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”), 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^[1], 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

Further reading

• “xhuxhmaxhuxh”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[2] (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