каланча

Russian

Etymology

Borrowed no later than the 18th century from a Turkic language, where кала meant "fortress" and -ча is a diminutive suffix, with epenthetic -н- (cf. каранда́ш (karandáš)). Compare Tatar кала (qala, “city, town”), Kazakh қала (qala, “city, town”), Azerbaijani qala (“castle”), Turkish kale (“fort”). Ultimately from Arabic قَلْعَة (qalʕa, “fortress”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kəɫɐnʲˈt͡ɕa]

Noun

каланча́ • (kalančá) f inan or m anim or f anim (genitive каланчи́, nominative plural каланчи́, genitive plural каланче́й)

1. watchtower

   пожа́рная каланча́ ― požárnaja kalančá ― fire-observation/fire-lookout tower

2. (colloquial, animate, masculine or feminine) tall person, beanpole

Declension

Declension of каланча́ (bian fem-form sibilant-stem accent-b) 

		singular	plural
nominative		каланча́ kalančá	каланчи́ kalančí
genitive		каланчи́ kalančí	каланче́й kalančéj
dative		каланче́ kalančé	каланча́м kalančám
accusative	animate	каланчу́ kalančú	каланче́й kalančéj
	inanimate		каланчи́ kalančí
instrumental		каланчо́й, каланчо́ю kalančój, kalančóju	каланча́ми kalančámi
prepositional		каланче́ kalančé	каланча́х kalančáx