thelb

Albanian

Alternative forms

• singular: thelp (pl. thelpinj), thalb, thalp
• plural: thelbe, thelba, thalba, thelbna

Etymology

From older and dialectal thalb, from Proto-Albanian *tsalba, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”) (compare Ancient Greek κέλυφος (kéluphos, “shell, pod”), Old English heolstor (“darkness”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈθɛlb]

Noun

thelb m (plural thelpinj, definite thelbi, definite plural thelpinjtë)

1. kernel (of nut), meat (of walnut)
2. core, pith, stone (of fruit)
3. clove (of garlic)
4. (botany) cotyledon
5. (figurative) core, essence, heart

Declension

Declension of thelb

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	thelb	thelbi	thelpinj	thelpinjtë
accusative		thelbin
dative	thelbi	thelbit	thelpinjve	thelpinjve
ablative			thelpinjsh

Derived terms

• thelbësor
• thelbor
• thelpi

Further reading

• “thelb”, in FMGJSH: Fjalor i madh i gjuhës shqipe (in Albanian), 2026
• Newmark, Leonard (1999), “thelb”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary‎^[1]