nepërkë

Albanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Orel suggests from older nepërtkë, originally ‘hatchling snake’, thought to be from South Slavic *nepŭrtŭkŭ (compare Bulgarian непрътък (neprǎtǎk, “buttercup, yellowgold”)).^[1] Some considered to be native,^[2]^[3] while Matasović considered it a term borrowed from some Balkan substratum language.^[4]

Noun

nepërkë f (plural nepërka, definite nepërka, definite plural nepërkat)

adder, viper
sand viper, nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes)
(figurative) snake-in-the-grass, crafty and dishonorable person

Declension

Declension of nepërkë

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	nepërkë	nepërka	nepërka	nepërkat
accusative	nepërkë	nepërkën	nepërka	nepërkat
dative	nepërke	nepërkës	nepërkave	nepërkave
ablative	nepërke	nepërkës	nepërkash	nepërkave

Hyponyms

nepërkë uji (“dice snake”) (Natrix tessellata)
nepërkë e zakonshme (“sand viper”) (Vipera ammodytes)

References

^ Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “nepërkë”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 290
^ Gunnar Svane, Slavische Lehnwörter im Albanischen, Aarhus University Press, 1992, page 144
^ Eqrem Cabej, Gjuha jonë, Akdemia, 1988, page. 28
^ Matasović, Ranko (2024). A Grammatical Sketch of Albanian for Students of Indo-European. Zagreb. Page 46