alca

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

alcá f 

1. childbirth of a camel

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

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

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

alca f (plural alche)

1. auk

• cala

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈalka/ [ˈal.ka]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alka
• Syllabification: al‧ca

alca f (plural alcas)

1. auk

• Before feminine nouns beginning with stressed /ˈa/ like alca, the singular definite article takes the form of 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.

This also applies to the indefinite article, which takes the form of un, which is otherwise used with masculine nouns (although the standard feminine form una also occurs): 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.) are used: la mejor alca, una buena alca.

• In these cases, el and un are not masculine but feminine, deriving from Latin illa and una, respectively, even though they are identical in form to the corresponding masculine singular articles. Thus, they are allomorphs of the feminine singular articles la and una.
• The use of these allomorphs does not change the gender agreement of the adjectives modifying the feminine noun: el alca única, un(a) alca buena.
• In the plural, the usual feminine plural articles and determiners (las, unas, etc.) are always used.

• “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], 10 December 2024
• alca on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es