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