kateb كاتب
Algerian Darja · noun
“kateb” (كاتب) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning writer, author.
Meanings
- writer, author
- having written, who wrote
- written, inscribed
Usage
Kateb means the writer or author of a text. In Darja, the word is also widely used as an active participle with a past meaning: howa li kateb el kalam hada, "he is the one who wrote this text". In this sense, it agrees in gender and number: katba in the feminine, katbin in the plural. It is also heard for something "written", for example kateb aâlih, "it's written on it". The expression mektoub, "it is written", comes from the same root but expresses destiny.
Example
هو كاتب معروف في الدزاير
howa kateb ma3rouf fe dzayer
“He is a well-known writer in Algeria.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kateb” but also “katib” and “katab”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kateb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “writer, author”; “written, having written (participle)”: kateb in Tunisian.