Round two: Gatinhozinho vs Fwomaj
(poll at the end)
Gatinhozinho (Brazilian Portuguese)
[ɡaˈt͡ʃĩ.ɲuzĩ.ɲu]
Translation: A tiny little cat
Portuguese is an Indo-European language belonging to the Romance branch originating from Portugal. Due to colonialism it is the main and official language of Brazil, where 213 million of its 264 million speakers live. Brazilian Portuguese is considered a dialect of Portuguese as they are mutually intelligible.
Motivation: It's the diminutive of gatinho, which is the diminutive of gato, which means cat! Cat so tiny you had to say it twice!
Note: The word was submitted for Brazilian Portuguese and I don’t know if it’s dialectal or not
Fwomaj (Haitian Creole)
[fwomaʒ]
Translation: Cheese
Haitian Creole is a French based Creole spoken by 11 million people in Haiti that emerged in the 17th and 18th century as a result of slave trade. Outside of 17th century French it has linguistic influences from a variety of languages, mostly West African ones including Wolof, Fon and Éwé but also Taino, the now extinct indigenous language spoken in Haiti before colonisation. It’s a national language and taught in most schools, as well as being the main language. Only 15% of Haitians are fluent in French, which is the second national language and has had a higher social status.
Motivation: Fwomaj comes from the French word fromage, and is spelled in a way that makes me laugh. Also cheese is a good food.
Which is the best word?
Gatinhozinho
Fwomaj