лелек

Bulgarian

Двойка черни лелеци

Etymology

From Old Church Slavonic лиликъ (lilikŭ), probably a wanderwort akin to Turkish leylek (“stork”), Albanian lejlek (“stork”), Greek λέλεκας (lélekas, “wading bird”), Ukrainian леле́ка (leléka, “stork”), ultimately from Classical Persian لَک‌ْلَک (lak-lak).

Compare also Czech lelek (“nightjar”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛlɛk]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ле́лек • (lélek) m

1. (dialectal) stork (wading bird of family Ciconiidae)

   Synonym: щъ́ркел (štǎ́rkel)

Declension

Declension of ле́лек

	singular	plural
indefinite	ле́лек lélek	ле́леци léleci
definite (subject form)	ле́лекът lélekǎt	ле́леците lélecite
definite (object form)	ле́лека léleka
count form	—	ле́лека léleka
vocative form	ле́леко léleko	ле́леци léleci

Alternative forms

• ли́лик (lílik), ли́лек (lílek) — dialectal
• лейле́к (lejlék) — from Turkish
• ле́ляк (léljak) — reanalyzed with suffix -як (-jak)

Related terms

• леле́ча impf (leléča), леле́кам pf (lelékam, “to say le-le”)
• леле́я (leléja, “to wail, to lament”) (colloquial)

References

• “лелек”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1986), “лелек”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 3 (крес¹ – мѝнго¹), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, page 354

Macedonian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛlɛk]

Noun

лелек • (lelek) m

1. lament, wail, cry

Declension

Declension of лелек

	singular	plural
indefinite	лелек	лелеци
definite unspecified	лелекот	лелеците
definite proximal	лелеков	лелециве
definite distal	лелекон	лелецине
vocative	лелеку	лелеци
count form	—	лелека

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lêleːk/
• Hyphenation: ле‧лек

Noun

ле̏ле̄к m (Latin spelling lȅlēk)

1. wailing, weeping

Declension

Declension of лелек

	singular
nominative	лелек
genitive	лелека
dative	лелеку
accusative	лелек
vocative	лелече
locative	лелеку
instrumental	лелеком

Further reading

• “лелек” in Hrvatski jezični portal