batata بطاطا
Algerian Darja · noun
“batata” (بطاطا) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning potato.
Meanings
- potato
Usage
Batata is the usual word for potato. It is used as a collective singular: chrit batata ("I bought potatoes"). For a single potato, you say habba batata. Fries are called batata mqalya or simply frites. The potato is very present in Algerian cooking: stews, chorba, gratins, or maakouda, potato fritters. The sweet potato is called batata hlowa. The word is neutral and used in all registers.
Example
ديري لي بطاطا مقلية مع الحوت
dirili batata m9alya m3a l7out
“Make me fries to go with the fish.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “batata” but also “btata”, “patata” and “bataata”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “batata” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “potato(es)”: btata in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “potato”; “fries (in context)”: batata in Tunisian.