Where does “kurjenkanerva” come from?

kurjenkanerva (Finnish) comes from Finnish kurki, from Proto-Finnic kurki, from Proto-Uralic kurke — crane.

kurjenkanerva (Finnish): blue mountainheath, Phyllodoce caerulea

Definitions

  1. blue mountainheath, Phyllodoce caerulea

Ancestry of “kurjenkanerva”, step by step

kurjenkanerva traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Finnish kurki

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishkurkicrane, "Grus grus"; Any bird of the family...
2Proto-Finnickurkicrane
3Proto-Uralickurkecrane

via Finnish Kanerva

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1FinnishKanervaheather, Calluna vulgaris
2Finnishkanervaheather, "Calluna vulgaris"
Every word from Proto-Uralic kurke →Every word from Proto-Finnic kurki →Every word from Finnish kurki →