7outa حوتة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“7outa” (حوتة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning a fish.
Meanings
- a fish
Usage
7outa designates a single fish. The word 7out, on the other hand, designates fish in general, as food or as a species: kla l7out, "he ate fish". So one says chi 7outa for "a fish" and 7outat for "fish" in the plural when they are counted. The proverb 7outa we7da tkhenez chwari means that a single rotten item spoils the whole basket. It is used to talk about a person who harms a whole group. The word belongs to the common register.
Example
من صباح ماسيدت تا شي حوتة
mn sba7 masyedt ta chi 7ota
“Since this morning I haven't caught a single fish.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7outa” but also “7ota”, “7uta”, “houta” and “7outta”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “7outa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “a fish (single)”: 7outa in Tunisian.