False Friends in Slavic Languages

• is a complete false friend in Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Serbian and Upper Sorbian.
• does not have all its Russian meanings in Belarusian, Polish and Ukrainian.
• has additional meanings in Polish.

• The Russian meaning ‘stale’ is shared by Belarusian чэрствы, Polish czerstwy and Ukrainian черствий.
• The Russian meaning ‘hard, dry’ is unique.
• The meaning ‘fresh’ (not present in Russian ‘чёрствый’, translated as ‘свежий’) is attested in Czech čerstvý, Polish czerstwy, Slovak čerstvý and Upper Sorbian čerstwy.
• The meaning ‘sturdy’ (not present in Russian ‘чёрствый’) is attested in Bosnian čvrst, Croatian čvrst and Serbian чврст.
• The meaning ‘dry pastries’ (not present in Russian ‘чёрствый’) is attested in Polish czerstwy.
• The meaning ‘nimble’ (not present in Russian ‘чёрствый’) is attested in Bulgarian чевръст.

NB: No information yet for Kashubian, Macedonian, Slovenian and Lower Sorbian.