Russian

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Etymology

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Inherited from Proto-Slavic *maľavъka (compare with Belarusian маляўка (maljaŭka), Polish dialectal malawka, Ukrainian малявка (maljavka)), from *maljava +‎ *-ъka whence Russian dialectal маля́ва (maljáva, fry) (also, compare with Czech malavý, Macedonian малав (malav), Serbo-Croatian malava), further from *malъ (small; little) +‎ *-ava, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel-.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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маля́вка (maljávkaf anim (genitive маля́вки, nominative plural маля́вки, genitive plural маля́вок)

  1. (colloquial) whitebait
    Synonym: малёк (maljók)
  2. (colloquial) little one (a young child); shorty, shrimp (a short person)

Declension

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Derived terms

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References

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  • Shansky, N. M., Zhuravlyov, A. F., editors (2007), “малявка”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), number 10 (М), Moscow: Moscow University Press, →ISBN, page 45
  • Trubachyov, Oleg, editor (1990), “*mal’avъka”, in Этимологический словарь славянских языков [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), numbers 17 (*lъžь – *matješьnъjь), Moscow: Nauka, →ISBN, page 165