русалка

Bulgarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [roˈsaɫkɐ]
• Rhymes: -aɫkɐ
• Syllabification^(key): ру‧сал‧ка

Noun

руса́лка • (rusálka) f

1. (mythology) mermaid

References

• “русалка”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014
• “русалка”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Chitanka, 2010

Russian

Rusalka by I. Bilibin, 1934

Etymology

Inherited from Old East Slavic русалиꙗ (rusalija), Old Church Slavonic роусалиѩ (rusaliję) +‎ -ка (-ka), from Byzantine Greek ῥουσάλια (rhousália), from Latin rōsālia (“festival of the roses”). Compare with Bulgarian руса́лия (rusálija).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [rʊˈsaɫkə]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

руса́лка • (rusálka) f anim (genitive руса́лки, nominative plural руса́лки, genitive plural руса́лок, relational adjective руса́лочий or руса́лочный, diminutive руса́лочка)

1. (Slavic mythology) rusalka; a Slavic female water spirit associated with death by drowning and with Green Week traditions occurring around the time of Pentecost
2. (by extension) nymph, mermaid (in the context of Western fantasy and mythology)

Declension

Declension of руса́лка (anim fem-form velar-stem accent-a reduc) 

	singular	plural
nominative	руса́лка rusálka	руса́лки rusálki
genitive	руса́лки rusálki	руса́лок rusálok
dative	руса́лке rusálke	руса́лкам rusálkam
accusative	руса́лку rusálku	руса́лок rusálok
instrumental	руса́лкой, руса́лкою rusálkoj, rusálkoju	руса́лками rusálkami
prepositional	руса́лке rusálke	руса́лках rusálkax

Synonyms

• береги́ня (beregínja), боло́тница (bolótnica), купа́лка (kupálka), ма́вка (mávka), шуто́вка (šutóvka)

Descendants

• → English: rusalka

Further reading

• Dal, Vladimir (1880–1882), “русалка”, in Толковый Словарь живаго великорускаго языка [Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language] (in Russian), 2nd edition, Publication of the bookseller-typographer Wolf, M. O.