желва

Bulgarian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *žely, *žьlva.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʒɛɫvɐ]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

же́лва • (žélva) f (diminutive же́лка)

1. (dialectal) tortoise, turtle (reptile of order Testudines)

   Synonym: костену́рка (kostenúrka)

Usage notes

Bulgarian makes no implicit distinction between terrestrial and aquatic Testudines. If specification is needed, it is made explicitly:

• во́дна же́лва (vódna žélva, “aquatic turtle”)
• сухозе́мна же́лва (suhozémna žélva, “terrestrial turtle”)

Declension

Declension of же́лва

	singular	plural
indefinite	же́лва žélva	же́лви žélvi
definite	же́лвата žélvata	же́лвите žélvite

Alternative forms

• жъ́лва (žǎ́lva) — dialectal

Derived terms

• желвеница (želvenica) (obsolete)
  • → живеница (živenica, “scrofula”) (type of skin disease)

References

• “желва¹”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “желва¹”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volumes 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 532

Serbo-Croatian

Želva

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *žьlvъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒêːlʋaː/
• Hyphenation: жел‧ва

Noun

же̑лва̄ f (Latin spelling žȇlvā)

1. sea turtle

Declension

Declension of желва

	singular	plural
nominative	желва	желве
genitive	желве	желви
dative	желви	желвама
accusative	желву	желве
vocative	желво	желве
locative	желви	желвама
instrumental	желвом	желвама