From Proto-Finnic *kërsa (compare Võro kõrźo), possibly borrowed from Proto-Germanic (compare Old Norse kjarr (“copsewood”)). The meaning "kid, child, brat" would in this case be a re-extraction from kersalapsi (literally “a child conceived/born in the bushes”).
kersa (colloquial)
| Inflection of kersa (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | kersa | kersat | ||
| genitive | kersan | kersojen | ||
| partitive | kersaa | kersoja | ||
| illative | kersaan | kersoihin | ||
| singular | plural | |||
| nominative | kersa | kersat | ||
| accusative | nom. | kersa | kersat | |
| gen. | kersan | |||
| genitive | kersan | kersojen kersainrare | ||
| partitive | kersaa | kersoja | ||
| inessive | kersassa | kersoissa | ||
| elative | kersasta | kersoista | ||
| illative | kersaan | kersoihin | ||
| adessive | kersalla | kersoilla | ||
| ablative | kersalta | kersoilta | ||
| allative | kersalle | kersoille | ||
| essive | kersana | kersoina | ||
| translative | kersaksi | kersoiksi | ||
| abessive | kersatta | kersoitta | ||
| instructive | — | kersoin | ||
| comitative | See the possessive forms below. | |||
kersa o
kersa