feġġ

Maltese

Etymology

Probably from Arabic ⁧فَجَأَ⁩ (fajaʔa, “to appear suddenly”). The phonetic form is slightly irregular (we would expect *feġa), but the development of the noun ⁧فَجْأة⁩ (fajʔa) into Maltese feġġa appears very plausible.

Alternatively perhaps from ⁧فَجَّ⁩ (fajja) with the original meaning “to cleave, open”, which makes sense for example when feġġ is used of blood or tears that erupt from the body. Compare also English break out (“to emerge suddenly”), German anbrechen (“to begin”), etc.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɛt͡ʃ/
Rhymes: -ɛt͡ʃ

Verb

feġġ (imperfect jfiġġ, verbal noun feġġ)

to appear (suddenly)

Conjugation

Conjugation of feġġ
		singular			plural
		1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person	1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person
perfect	m	feġġejt	feġġejt	feġġ	feġġejna	feġġejtu	feġġew
perfect	f	feġġejt	feġġejt	feġġet	feġġejna	feġġejtu	feġġew
imperfect	m	nfiġġ	tfiġġ	jfiġġ	nfiġġu	tfiġġu	jfiġġu
imperfect	f	nfiġġ	tfiġġ	tfiġġ	nfiġġu	tfiġġu	jfiġġu
imperative			fiġġ			fiġġu

Noun

feġġ m (instance noun feġġa)

verbal noun of feġġ: appearance, appearing, especially when sudden or brief

Derived terms

kewkba feġġa

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.