mjekja

mjekja is the Albanian term for a female doctor. It denotes a physician who is a woman and serves as the feminine counterpart to mjek, the general word for doctor. The term is widely used across Albanian-speaking communities, including Albania, Kosovo, and neighboring regions, in clinical settings, media, education, and everyday speech. It allows speakers to specify gender when referring to a medical professional while maintaining a professional tone.

Linguistically, mjekja is formed from the root mjek with the feminine suffix and definite article, yielding "the female doctor." The masculine counterpart is mjek, with the definite form mjeku, while the feminine definite form is mjekja. Albanian marks gender in many occupational nouns, and mjekja follows this pattern. In contexts where the gender of the physician is unknown or not specified, the neutral term mjek may be used, or context may determine the appropriate form.

In usage, mjekja, like mjek, appears in medical literature, hospital signage, and news reporting. It is a neutral, respectful designation for a physician who is a woman and does not imply any particular specialty or level of expertise. The term reflects both linguistic gender agreement and professional identity in Albanian-speaking communities.