dëmtu

Dëmtu is an Albanian term used as an adjective meaning "damaged" or "injured." In standard Albanian the corresponding past participle is dëmtuar. Dëmtu is documented mainly in dialectal or informal registers where it may appear as a shortened or variant form of dëmtuar. The word is related to the noun dëmi meaning "harm" or "damage" and to the verb family associated with harming in Albanian dialects. In usage, dëmtu describes the state of something that has sustained damage and can be used attributively before a noun or predicatively with a copular verb in dialect contexts. In formal writing, dëmtuar is generally preferred to avoid ambiguity. Pronunciation is roughly [ˈdɛm.tu], with the diaeresis ë representing a mid-central vowel. The diacritic ë is standard in Albanian orthography. The term appears in contexts such as safety checks, maintenance logs, medical notes describing injuries, and everyday language for quick labeling of damaged goods. Related terms include dëm (harm/damage), dëmtim (damage, injury), and dëmtues (damager). See also Albanian morphology, dialectal variation, and general language usage notes.