Etymology

From Old Turkic [Term?] čečäk, from Proto-Turkic *čeček ‎(“flower”).

Cognate with Tuvan, Southern Altai чечек ‎(čäčäk), Kazakh шешек ‎(şeşek), Uzbek chechak, Uyghur چېچەك ‎(chëchek), Turkish, Gagauz, Crimean Tatar çiçek, Azeri çiçək etc.

The background of the metathesis *säsäk → säskä that took place in Bashkir remains yet to be explored. One possible reason for it may have been the need to resolve the homonymy that is ubiquitous in most Turkic languages: the descendants of the archetype čeček mean both "flower" and "smallpox". Secondly, it may have been promoted by the influence of a Bulgar stratum in Bashkir; compare Chuvash ҫеҫке ‎(śeśke, “flower”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sæsˈkæ]
• Hyphenation: сәс‧кә