bejleg

Albanian

Etymology

First attested in the phrase me shtīm beleg (“to provoke, to challenge”). The initial meaning seems to have been "sign, mark", reflected in the modern meaning "person distinguished by a mark or disability". Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian beleg (“mark, feature, stamp”) (attested with the meaning "duel" in Croatian), itself from Proto-Slavic *bělěgъ, ultimately from a Turkic source. The term was part of medieval Serbian legal administration, in which individuals were summoned to court by a stamp (sigillum citationis). The semantic development in Albanian could have been call to court through a stamp > duel invitation through a mark > duel.^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bɛˈlɛɡ/

Noun

bejleg m (plural bejlegje, definite bejlegu, definite plural bejlegjet)

duel
flower of corn
small, prematurely born kid or lamb
person distinguished by a mark or disability

Declension

Declension of **bejleg**
	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	bejleg	bejlegu	belegje	belegjet
accusative	bejleg	bejlegun	belegje	belegjet
dative	bejlegu	bejlegut	belegjeve	belegjeve
ablative	bejlegu	bejlegut	belegjesh	belegjeve

Synonyms

dyluftim, duel

Derived terms

bejlegtar

References

^ Topalli, Kolec (2017), “bejleg”, in Fjalor Etimologjik i Gjuhës Shqipe [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in Albanian), Durrës, Albania: Jozef, page 190
^ Omari, Anila (2012), “bejleg”, in Marrëdhëniet Gjuhësore Shqiptaro-Serbe [Albanian-Serbian Linguistic Relations] (in Albanian), Tirana, Albania: Krishtalina KH, →ISBN, pages 101-102