ertь

ertь Grammatical information: f. i Proto-Slavic meaning: `strife'

Page in Trubačev: -

Old Church Slavic:

retь (Zogr.², Supr.) `strife, contest' [f i]

Old Russian:

retь `diligence, strife, contest' [f i]

Indo-European reconstruction: h₁er-ti-

Comments: If the anlaut of OCS retь does indeed originate from *er- (cf. -> *ernь), we would expect rětь in view of the regular development of *oRC- in South Slavic, cf. ratь `war, battle' (-> *ortь). Nevertheless, the etymology advocated here seems the best option (cf. Toporov 1981: 154).