xhuxhmaxhuxh

Albanian
FWOTD – 22 October 2023

Alternative forms
  • xhuxh ma xhuxh, xhuxh-ma-xhuxh
  • xhuxhimâxhuxh — Gheg, archaic

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish یأجوج و مأجوج (yeʼcuc ve meʼcuc, “Gog and Magog”),[1] crossed with xhuxh (“dwarf”) and often reanalysed as literally meaning some sort of “dwarf more dwarf”, or “[even] shorter dwarf”.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /d͡ʒud͡ʒmaˈd͡ʒud͡ʒ/
  • Rhymes: -ud͡ʒ

Noun

xhuxhmaxhuxh m (plural xhuxhmaxhuxhë)

  1. (folklore) dwarf, gnome
    Synonym: xhuxh
    • 2011, Janaq Pani, “Një xhuxhmaxhuxh”, in www.zemrashqiptare.net‎, archived from the original on 2023-09-07, lines 1–2:
      Një xhuxhmaxhuxh takoj një herë / që rrinte qetë nën një zambak […]
      I ran into a dwarf once, / who was sitting quitely under a lily […]
  2. short-legged person, shorty, midget
    Synonyms: shkurtabiq, xhuxh

Adjective

xhuxhmaxhuxh (feminine xhuxhmaxhuxhe)

  1. short, short-legged
    Synonyms: xhuxh, i shkurtër, shkurtabiq

References
  1. Bufli, G., Rocchi, L. (2021) “xhuxhmaxhuxh”, in A historical-etymological dictionary of Turkisms in Albanian (1555–1954), Trieste: Edizioni Università di Trieste, page 516

Further reading
  • “xhuxhmaxhuxh”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎ (in Albanian), 1980, page 2202
  • Jungg, G. (1895) “gugimâguug”, in Fialuur i voghel sccȣp e ltinisct [Small Albanian–Italian dictionary], page 186
  • Topalli, K. (2017) “xhuxhmaxhuxh”, in Fjalor Etimologjik i Gjuhës Shqipe, Durrës, Albania: Jozef, page 1606
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