boutouna بوطونة
Algerian Darja · noun
“boutouna” (بوطونة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning button (on a device, switch).
Meanings
- button (on a device, switch)
- clothing button
Usage
Boutouna is an adapted loanword from the French "bouton". It has taken the Arabic feminine form in -a and is used with the article: "el boutouna". It refers first of all to the button pressed on a device, a remote control or a screen. It can also mean a button on a piece of clothing. Note that the word is feminine in darja ("boutouna wahda", a single button). The common plural is "boutounat". The register is informal and common. For a pimple, this word is not used in the same sense: check the context.
Example
ضغط على البوطونة باش يشعل التلفزيون
dghot 3la el boutouna bach techa3el tilifizyoun
“Press the button so the TV turns on.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “boutouna” but also “bottona”, “botona” and “boutona”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.