9etta قطة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“9etta” (قطة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning female cat.
Meanings
- female cat
- cat (in general)
Usage
Qetta is the feminine of qett (cat). The word means a female cat, but it is often used to talk about a cat without specifying its sex, as in the expression "playing with the cat". It is almost always found with the article: l-qetta. Depending on region and family, you also hear mech and mecha for the cat; qetta is understood everywhere. In darija, the word has no vulgar sense. In translation, it is therefore often better to render qetta as "the cat" or "the female cat (the animal)". The register is neutral and everyday.
Example
كايلعب معا ل قطة
kayl3b m3a l 9TTa
“He plays with the cat.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9etta” but also “qetta”, “9tta”, “9ta” and “qtta”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.