mawdou3 موضوع

Algerian Darja · noun

“mawdou3” (موضوع) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning topic, theme.

Meanings

1. topic, theme
2. matter, affair

Usage

Mawdou3 means "topic": the theme of a discussion, a video, or an assignment. People say dir mawdou3 3la…, "do a piece on…". By extension, the word refers to a matter or a story: wach houwa el mawdou3 ?, "what is it about?". It comes from Standard Arabic, but it is very common and in a neutral register. At school, the word also means the exam question or topic. The plural is mawadi3. In speech, the pronunciation is often reduced to mawdo3 or mewdou3.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mawdou3” but also “mawdo3”, “mawdu3”, “mewdou3” and “maoudou3”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.

Type “mawdou3” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “subject, topic”; “matter, affair”: mawdo3 in Moroccan.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “subject, topic”; “matter, affair in question”: mawdhou3 in Tunisian.