Etymology

Older șopîrlă, influenced by șopîrcăi ‘to joke, be goofy’ and năpârcă ‘adder’, possibly from or cognate to Albanian (Tosk) shapinj ‘lizards’ (standard zhapinj), plural of shapi (standard zhapi) as a substratum word. Other less likely theories include a derivation of Ancient Greek σήψ ‎(sḗps) or a Latin *sepinula.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃoˈpɨr.lə/