بلجيكي

Arabic

Etymology

Relative adjective (nisba) composed of بِلْجِيكَا (biljīkā, “Belgium”) +‎ ـِيّ (-iyy).

In the "Palestinian" sense, almost certainly dating back to the Jordanian Civil War, though there are many theories regarding the specific origin of this epitheth:

From the Palestine Liberation Organization's purported use of foreign (including Belgian) clothing and equipment as a means of distinguishing themselves from the Jordanian Armed Forces. This is generally considered the most likely origin of the slur, but slightly different accounts exist, such as that the use of foreign garb was actually a demand of the Armed Forces, in order to minimize Jordanian casualties during Israeli reprisal operations against Palestinian guerillas, in which case the term could've perhaps been employed even before the civil war.
From calls of native Jordanians to expel the Palestinians to a far-away country, with Belgium being a random proposal.
From a belief that Belgium was sending aid (humanitarian or otherwise) to Palestinian guerillas.
From an insinuation that Palestine and Belgium are both "fake" countries.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bil.d͡ʒiː.kijj/

Adjective

بِلْجِيكِيّ • (biljīkiyy) (feminine بِلْجِيكِيَّة (biljīkiyya), masculine plural بِلْجِيكِيُّونَ (biljīkiyyūna), feminine plural بِلْجِيكِيَّات (biljīkiyyāt))

Belgian
(Jordan, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) Palestinian, in particular one resident in Jordan

Declension

Declension of adjective **بِلْجِيكِيّ** (biljīkiyy)
singular	masculine		feminine
	basic singular triptote		singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
informal	بِلْجِيكِي biljīkī	الْبِلْجِيكِي al-biljīkī	بِلْجِيكِيَّة biljīkiyya	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّة al-biljīkiyya
nominative	بِلْجِيكِيٌّ biljīkiyyun	الْبِلْجِيكِيُّ al-biljīkiyyu	بِلْجِيكِيَّةٌ biljīkiyyatun	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّةُ al-biljīkiyyatu
accusative	بِلْجِيكِيًّا biljīkiyyan	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّ al-biljīkiyya	بِلْجِيكِيَّةً biljīkiyyatan	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّةَ al-biljīkiyyata
genitive	بِلْجِيكِيٍّ biljīkiyyin	الْبِلْجِيكِيِّ al-biljīkiyyi	بِلْجِيكِيَّةٍ biljīkiyyatin	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّةِ al-biljīkiyyati
dual	masculine		feminine
dual	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
informal	بِلْجِيكِيَّيْن biljīkiyyayn	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّيْن al-biljīkiyyayn	بِلْجِيكِيَّتَيْن biljīkiyyatayn	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّتَيْن al-biljīkiyyatayn
nominative	بِلْجِيكِيَّانِ biljīkiyyāni	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّانِ al-biljīkiyyāni	بِلْجِيكِيَّتَانِ biljīkiyyatāni	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّتَانِ al-biljīkiyyatāni
accusative	بِلْجِيكِيَّيْنِ biljīkiyyayni	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّيْنِ al-biljīkiyyayni	بِلْجِيكِيَّتَيْنِ biljīkiyyatayni	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّتَيْنِ al-biljīkiyyatayni
genitive	بِلْجِيكِيَّيْنِ biljīkiyyayni	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّيْنِ al-biljīkiyyayni	بِلْجِيكِيَّتَيْنِ biljīkiyyatayni	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّتَيْنِ al-biljīkiyyatayni
plural	masculine		feminine
	sound masculine plural		sound feminine plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
informal	بِلْجِيكِيِّين biljīkiyyīn	الْبِلْجِيكِيِّين al-biljīkiyyīn	بِلْجِيكِيَّات biljīkiyyāt	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّات al-biljīkiyyāt
nominative	بِلْجِيكِيُّونَ biljīkiyyūna	الْبِلْجِيكِيُّونَ al-biljīkiyyūna	بِلْجِيكِيَّاتٌ biljīkiyyātun	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّاتُ al-biljīkiyyātu
accusative	بِلْجِيكِيِّينَ biljīkiyyīna	الْبِلْجِيكِيِّينَ al-biljīkiyyīna	بِلْجِيكِيَّاتٍ biljīkiyyātin	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّاتِ al-biljīkiyyāti
genitive	بِلْجِيكِيِّينَ biljīkiyyīna	الْبِلْجِيكِيِّينَ al-biljīkiyyīna	بِلْجِيكِيَّاتٍ biljīkiyyātin	الْبِلْجِيكِيَّاتِ al-biljīkiyyāti

References

Baalbaki, Rohi (1995) “بلجيكي”, in Al-Mawrid: A Modern Arabic-English Dictionary, 7th edition, Beirut: Dar El-Ilm Lilmalayin, →ISBN
Баранов, Х. К. (2011) “بلجيكي”, in Большой арабско-русский словарь (Bolʹšoj arabsko-russkij slovarʹ), 11th edition, Москва: Живой язык, →ISBN
Lane, Edward William (1863-1893) “بلجيكي”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate.
Wehr, Hans (1960) “بلجيكي”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 3rd edition, Ithaca, NY: Otto Harrassowitz