курче

From кур (kur, “cock”) +‎ -че (-če, diminutive suffix).

• IPA^(key): [ˈkurt͡ʃɛ]

ку́рче • (kúrče) n

1. diminutive of кур (kur, “cock”)

Inherited from Old Slovak kurča. Cognates include Slovak kurča (“chick”) and Ukrainian курча́ (kurčá).

• IPA^(key): [ˈkurt͡ʃɛ]
• Rhymes: -urt͡ʃɛ
• Hyphenation: кур‧че

курче (kurče) n (diminutive курчатко, related adjective курчецов)

1. chicken (animal)

   надзате курче ― nadzate kurče ― stuffed chicken

   поховане курче ― poxovane kurče ― fried chicken

   печене курче ― pečene kurče ― roast chicken

• The distinction between курче (kurče) and кура (kura) is similar to that between Serbo-Croatian пиле / pile and кокош / kokoš, in that the former used to have the meaning of "chick (baby chicken)", but has now come closer to "young broiler chicken", while the latter means "hen", noting that the chicken is older and not ideal to harvest for meat. As a result, for most culinary applications, the words relating to "chick" would be used, rather than the word for "hen", such as Serbo-Croatian пилетина / piletina. In Pannonian Rusyn, курчатко (kurčatko) has supplanted курче (kurče) as the word for "chick", in the actual sense of "baby chicken". This is in contrast with the Slovak usage, where kura is typically used in culinary applications.

• Medʹeši, H., Fejsa, M., Timko-Djitko, O. (2010) “курче”, in Ramač, Ju., editor, Руско-сербски словнїк [Rusyn-Serbian Dictionary] (in Pannonian Rusyn), Novi Sad: Faculty of Philosophy
• Fejsa, M., Šlemender, M., Čelʹovski, S. (2022) “chicken”, in Анґлийско-руски словнїк [English-Rusyn Dictionary] (in Pannonian Rusyn), Novi Sad: Faculty of Philosophy; Ruska matka, →ISBN, page 53