Šum Explained

Šum
Native Name:	Шум Shum
Settlement Type:	Village
Pushpin Map:	North Macedonia
Pushpin Map Caption:	Location within North Macedonia
Subdivision Type:	Country
Subdivision Type1:	Region
Subdivision Name1:	Southwestern
Subdivision Type2:	Municipality
Subdivision Name2:	Struga
Elevation M:	684
Population As Of:	2021
Population Total:	411
Timezone:	CET
Utc Offset:	+1
Timezone Dst:	CEST
Utc Offset Dst:	+2
Postal Code Type:	Postal code
Area Code:	+38946
Website:	.
Blank Name:	Car plates
Blank Info:	SU

Šum (Macedonian: Шум, Albanian: Shum) is a village in the municipality of Struga, North Macedonia. The settlement is a newer village in the Struga area and has a mosque.

Name

Šum has in its history been attached administratively to the neighboring village of Zagračani resulting in demographic and other data being counted along with that settlement. Past traces of the village name Šum are non-existent and the area only appears in an old map by Jaranov listing it as Dolno (Lower) Zagračani. Due to the close geographical proximity with Zagračani, the village toponyms of Šum are shared with its neighbour. A river flows through the village.

Local Albanian residents of Šum derive the origin of their village's name as stemming from the Albanian word shumë (meaning: a lot, much) from there being a lot of water due to the river. Šum is also located nearby Struga and in between there are remnants of a forest. In Macedonian the word for 'forest' is шума/šuma. The Albanian expression pronounced as shumë is according to Pianka Włodzimierz borrowed in this instance possibly from a local field name from a time when Zagračani was a Macedonian village, becoming the name of the village.^[1]

Demographics

The Tosk dialect of the Albanian language is spoken in Šum.^[2] ^[3]

As of the 2021 census, Šum had 411 residents with the following ethnic composition:^[4]

Albanians 342
Persons for whom data are taken from administrative sources 69

According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 837 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the village include:^[5]

Albanians 823
Macedonians 2
Others 12

Notes and References

Book: Włodzimierz, Pianka. Toponomastikata na Ohridsko-Prespanskiot bazen. 1970. Institut za makedonski jazik "Krste Misirkov". 68. "Шум е ново село со 42 куќи и џамија... Населено е со Албанци, но бидејќи административно е сврзано со Заграчани во статистиките не фигурира. Теренските имиња од ова село се дадени кај Заграчани (поради заедничкиот атар). Името на селото никогаш не се бележи, на картата од Јаранов фигурира како Д. Заграчани... Низ селото тече истоимена река. Народната етимологија е ваква: алб. shumë ‘многу’ → ‘многу вода’ → ‘вода’ → ‘река’. Селото лежи во полето близу до Струга. Сепак има таму и остатоци од шума. Албанците зборот се изговарале како шумъ (спор. алб. zhabë 'жаба’) и тоа можеби од теренско име (од времето кога Заграчани било Македонско село) станал име на селото."
Tuda. Rahmi. Rreth disa termave filozofikë në vajtimet e fshatrave Veleshtë dhe Shum të Strugës. Gjurmime Albanologjike: Folklor Dhe Etnologji. 18. 1988. 211. "Shum (ku flitet toskërishtja)".
Tuda. Shpresa. Të dhëna për zakonet e vdekjes dhe vajtimet në Strugë dhe rrethinë . Gjurmime Albanologjike: Folklor Dhe Etnologji. 5-7. 1977. 159. "Fshatrat e rrethinës së Strugës siç janë: Kalishti, Frengova, Ladorishti, Zagraçani dhe Shumi flasin në dialektin toskë, kurse në të gjithë fshatrat e tjerë flitet gegënishtja".
https://makstat.stat.gov.mk/PXWeb/pxweb/en/MakStat/MakStat__Popisi__Popis2021__NaselenieVkupno__PodatociNaselenie/T1503P21.px/table/tableViewLayout2/?rxid=cc8e0490-07b6-4002-adf4-9b4891b66655 Total resident population of the Republic of North Macedonia by ethnic affiliation, by settlement, Census 2021
Macedonian Census (2002), Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion, The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 182.