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 (lelek)	лелеци (leleci)
definite unspecified	лелекот (lelekot)	лелеците (lelecite)
definite proximal	лелеков (lelekov)	лелециве (lelecive)
definite distal	лелекон (lelekon)	лелецине (lelecine)
vocative	лелеку (leleku)	лелеци (leleci)
count form	—	лелека (leleka)

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 [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025