жеравь

Old Novgorodian

First attested in c. 1045‒1109 as жеравь (žeravĭ, acc. sg.). Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žeravь, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *gerˀ(ō)wis, from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂ōws (“crane (bird)”), from *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”).

жеравь • (žeravĭ) m

(hapax legomenon) crane (bird)
- c. 1045 – 1109, Original plaster from the walls of Cathedral of St. Sophia^[1], Novgorod (Cathedral of Saint Sophia):
  о(х)[ъ чиже](в)и же[р]авь (о)[ус]т[р]ѣлив(ъше) дѣди н[а]г[и]
  o(x)[ŭ cʹiže](v)i že[r]avĭ (o)[us]t[r]jěliv(ŭše) dědi n[a]g[i]
  Oh, [poor] Chizh, who shot the crane. The children [walk] naked.