alca

See also: Alca, álca, Alča, alça, alçà, and alçâ

Afar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈħa/ [ʔʌlˈħʌ]
• Hyphenation: al‧ca

Noun

alcá f 

1. childbirth of a camel

Declension

Declension of alcá
absolutive	alcá
predicative	alcá
subjective	alcá
genitive	alcá
Postpositioned forms l-case alcál k-case alcák t-case alcát h-case alcáh

References

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “alca”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

Italian

Etymology

From New Latin, from Old Norse alka (“auk”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.ka/
• Rhymes: -alka
• Hyphenation: àl‧ca

Noun

alca f (plural alche)

1. auk

Anagrams

• cala

Spanish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalka/ [ˈal.ka]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alka
• Syllabification: al‧ca

Noun

alca f (plural alcas)

1. auk

Usage notes

• Feminine nouns beginning with stressed /ˈa/ like alca take the singular definite article el (otherwise reserved for masculine nouns) instead of the usual la: el alca. This includes the contracted forms al and del (instead of a la and de la, respectively): al alca, del alca.

These nouns also usually take the indefinite article un that is otherwise used with masculine nouns (although the standard feminine form una is also permitted): un alca or una alca. The same is true with determiners algún/alguna and ningún/ninguna, as well as for numerals ending with 1 (e.g., veintiún/veintiuna).

However, if another word intervenes between the article and the noun, the usual feminine singular articles and determiners (la, una etc.) must be used: la mejor alca, una buena alca.

• If an adjective follows the noun, it must agree with the noun's gender regardless of the article used: el alca única, un(a) alca buena.
• In the plural, the usual feminine singular articles and determiners (las, unas etc.) are always used.

Derived terms

• alca gigante

 

Further reading

• “alca”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
• alca on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es