kärki

• IPA^(key): /ˈkærki/,
• Rhymes: -ærki
• Hyphenation^(key): kär‧ki

Probably a shift from kärki (etymology 2). Alternatively related to Livonian kerk (“toe or heel of the bit on an axe”) and Võro kärk (“toe or heel of the bit on an axe”) (Mulgi) (for which one may reconstruct Proto-Finnic *kärkkä).

kärki

1. point, tip, cusp (sharp point or pointed end)
2. lead (the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in a game in an incomplete game)
3. (geometry) vertex
4. (heraldry) pile
5. (astrology) cusp

• “kärki”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-10-16

From Proto-Finnic *kärki (“black woodpecker”), from Proto-Finno-Ugric *kärke (“woodpecker”). Cognates include Karelian kärki / kärgi, Võro kärgʼ (“woodpecker”), Veps kärg (“woodpecker”) and Erzya керьгата (keŕgata, “woodpecker”).

kärki (dialectal, especially Southwest Finnish)

1. Synonym of palokärki (“black woodpecker”)

• räkki

From Proto-Finnic *kärki. Cognates include Finnish kärki and dialectal Estonian kärg.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈkærki/,
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈkærki/,
• Rhymes: -ærkʲ, -ærki
• Hyphenation: kär‧ki

kärki

1. (folk poetic or obsolete) Synonym of tulilintu
   • 1916, Volmari Porkka, quoting Tari, “1305. Soikkola, Säätinä. III 475.”, in Väinö Salminen, V. Alava, editor, Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot. Länsi-Inkerin runot‎, volume III2, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, lines 87-88:

     Kutsumma kuret, kutsumma käret // Kutsumma kuusesta jumalan.

     We're calling the cranes, we're calling the woodpeckers, // We're calling them from God's spruce.

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 235

From Proto-Finnic *kärki. Cognates include Finnish kärki and dialectal Estonian kärg.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkærki/
• Hyphenation: kär‧ki

kärki (genitive kären, partitive kärkie)

1. (North Karelian) woodpecker

• tikka, (South Karelian) tikku

• P. M. Zaykov et al. (2015) “дятел”, in Venäjä-Viena Šanakirja [Russian-Viena Karelian Dictionary], →ISBN