biża'

Maltese

Root
b-ż-għ
14 terms

Alternative forms

• biżgħa (rare, perhaps nonstandard)

Etymology

From Arabic فَزَع (fazaʕ) with irregular development of the onset (probably at first in the verb beża’, which see). Originally and still frequently masculine, but also feminine after the final [a]-sound.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪ.za/
• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪ.zaˤ/ (archaic)
• Rhymes: -ɪza, -ɪzaˤ
• Homophone: biżgħa

Noun

biża’ m or f (instance noun beżgħa)

1. verbal noun of beża’: fear
   • 1970, Anton Buttigieg, “Lis-Sena l-Ġdida 1964”, in Fl-Arena:

     taħt it-tbissima
     falza ta’ wiċċi
     kien hemm in-niket
     u dwejjaq kbar
     u biża’ minnek.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)