ktab كتاب
Algerian Darja · noun
“ktab” (كتاب) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning book.
Meanings
- book
- the Quran (ktab Allah)
- written amulet, talisman
Usage
Ktab is the usual word for "book", whether a school textbook, a novel or a religious work. The plural is ktouba. In the expression ktab Allah, it means the Quran, and one says qra ktab Allah for "to learn or recite the Quran". In more traditional usage, ktab also means a text written by a taleb and worn as an amulet: dar-lou ktab, "he had a talisman made for him". For a notebook, one rather says kayé or kourras.
Example
شريت كتاب جديد للقراية.
chrit ktab jdid lel qraya.
“I bought a new book for studying.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ktab” but also “kteb”, “kitab” and “ktabe”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “ktab” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “book”: ktab in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “book”; “school textbook”: kteb in Tunisian.