Word of the Day

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Moč in Czech and Slovak

Funny thing I have found out recently: moč, urine, is feminine in standard Czech, but masculine in standard Slovak, which has consequences in its declension. It is the second word I have found with differing genders in both languages. The first is Olomouc, a city in central Moravia, feminine in standard Czech, but masculine in standard Slovak.

In Czech:
nominative - moč
genitive - moči/moče
dative - moči
accusative - moč
vocative - moči
locative - o moči
instrumental - močí

In Slovak:
nominative -  moč
genitive - moču
dative - moču
accusative - moč
locative - o moču
instrumental - močom

Nevertheless, this slightly outdated Czech dictionary also lists moč as masculine, which would have the following declension:

nominative - moč
genitive - moče
dative - moči
accusative - moč
vocative - moči
locative - o moči
instrumental - močem

According to this corpus, feminine moč is more frequent than masculine moč, at least when comparing the probably most strikingly different case forms, močem and močí in the instrumental.

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