9ayd قائد
Moroccan Darija · noun
“9ayd” (قائد) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning caid, local government official.
Meanings
- caid, local government official
- chief, leader
Usage
In Morocco, l9ayd (often written qayd or 9ayd) refers above all to the caid. He is the Interior Ministry authority officer who heads a caidat, above the chikh and the mqeddem. You go "3nd l9ayd" for administrative matters: certificates, proof of residence, neighbourhood disputes. The word is almost always used with the article. The spelling with hamza belongs to standard Arabic; in speech, people say qayd. The general sense of "chief, commander" belongs mostly to the standard or journalistic register.
Example
مشيت عند القايد باش نقاد الشهادة
mchit 3nd l9ayd bach n9ad chhada
“I went to the caid to get the certificate done.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9ayd” but also “qayd”, “9aid” and “9a2id”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop; 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.