Storch

German

Alternative forms
  • Stork (dialectal, otherwise obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German storch, storc, from Old High German storah, *storc(h), from Proto-Germanic *sturkaz. Cognate to dialectal Dutch stork, English stork, Swedish stork. The expected German form is also Stork, which was indeed in wide use, but has not become standardized. The shifted variant Storch is probably due to the use of epenthetic vowels in Old High German, by which the uninflected stem storah alternated with inflected storc-. Such variation was generally levelled in favour of the inflected stem, but this was an apparent exception. Compare for the regular development Old High German starah alongside starc(h), whence Middle High German starc and modern stark. Alternatively, Storch could be an Upper German relict form (with [rx] from [rkx]), but the regional distribution does not seem to confirm this.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ʃtɔrç/, [ʃtɔʁç], [ʃtɔɐ̯ç], [ʃtɔːç]
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Storch m (genitive Storches or Storchs, plural Störche, diminutive Störchlein n or Störchelchen n, feminine Störchin)

  1. stork (bird)
  2. (Namibia) girl

Declension
Declension of Storch
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein der Storch die Störche
genitive eines des Storches,
Storchs		 der Störche
dative einem dem Storch,
Storche1		 den Störchen
accusative einen den Storch die Störche
1Now uncommon, see notes

Derived terms

Further reading

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From German Storch.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ʃtoʀχ/, [ʃtoχɕ]

Noun

Storch m (plural Storchen)

  1. stork
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