kärki

• IPA^(key): /ˈkærki/, [ˈk̟ærk̟i]
• Rhymes: -ærki
• Syllabification^(key): kär‧ki
• Hyphenation^(key): kär‧ki

Probably a shift from kärki (etymology 2). Alternatively, and less likely, related to Livonian kerk (“toe or heel of the bit on an axe”) and Võro kärk (“toe or heel of the bit on an axe”) (Mulgi) (for which one may reconstruct Proto-Finnic *kärkkä).

kärki

1. point, tip, cusp, prong (sharp point or pointed end)
2. lead (the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in a game in an incomplete game)

   Synonym: johto

   olla kärjessä ― to be leading, to be in the lead

   nousta kärkeen ― to go to the lead, to take the lead

3. (geometry) vertex (corner of a polygon or polyhedron)

   Synonym: kärkipiste

4. (geometry) cusp (point of a curve where it has no tangent)

   Synonym: kärkipiste

5. (computer graphics) vertex (point in 3D space)

   Synonyms: verteksi, kärkipiste

6. (heraldry) pile (one of the ordinaries or subordinaries having the form of a wedge)
7. (astrology) cusp (boundary between houses)

• “kärki”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 16 October 2023

From Proto-Finnic *kärki (“black woodpecker”), from Proto-Finno-Ugric *kärke (“woodpecker”). Cognates include Karelian kärki / kärgi, Võro kärgʼ (“woodpecker”), Veps kärg (“woodpecker”) and Erzya керьгата (keŕgata, “woodpecker”).

kärki (dialectal, especially Southwest Finnish)

1. synonym of palokärki (“black woodpecker”)

• räkki

From Proto-Finnic *kärki. Cognates include Finnish kärki and dialectal Estonian kärg.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈkærki/, [ˈkærkʲ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈkærki/, [ˈkærɡ̊i]
• Rhymes: -ærkʲ, -ærki
• Hyphenation: kär‧ki

kärki

1. (folk poetic or obsolete) synonym of tulilintu
   • 1916, Volmari Porkka, quoting Tari, “1305. Soikkola, Säätinä. III 475.”, in Väinö Salminen, V. Alava, editor, Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot. Länsi-Inkerin runot‎^[2], volume III2, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, lines 87-88:

     Kutsumma kuret, kutsumma käret // Kutsumma kuusesta jumalan.

     We're calling the cranes, we're calling the woodpeckers, // We're calling them from God's spruce.

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 235

From Proto-Finnic *kärki. Cognates include Finnish kärki and dialectal Estonian kärg.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkærki/
• Hyphenation: kär‧ki

kärki (genitive kären, partitive kärkie)

1. (North Karelian) woodpecker

• tikka, (South Karelian) tikku

• P. M. Zaykov et al. (2015) “дятел”, in Venäjä-Viena Šanakirja [Russian-Viena Karelian Dictionary], →ISBN