langaj

• langage

From Haitian Creole langaj, from French langage (“language”). Doublet of language.

langaj (uncountable)

1. (voodoo) A sacred or incantatory language used in Haitian voodoo rituals.
   • 2003, Marie-Jose Alcide Saint-Lot, Vodou, A Sacred Theater, page 172:

     Though used only by initiates, some passages in langaj emphasize sounds in a fashion that appeals to the ears of the profane as well, even when no translation is accessible as in most of the following examples.

   • 2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books, page 41:

     The langaj used for activation and the specific combinations required for a ceremony are initiatory secrets.

   • 2013, Amy Wilentz, Farewell, Fred Voodoo, Simon & Schuster, page 196:

     He and his assistant, a bigger, stronger, younger man, are both singing, bent over the bowl, in langage, which is a mix of slavery-era African dialects combined with Creole; it's used only in voodoo ritual and is one of the world's few remaining wholly sacred languages.

Borrowed from French langage.

langaj n (plural langaje)

1. language

• langaj in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN