babbaghio ببغاء
Moroccan Darija · noun
“babbaghio” (ببغاء) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning parrot.
Meanings
- parrot
- person who parrots others
Usage
The Arabic spelling given is the standard Arabic one. In darija, people mostly say babbaghio or bbeghyo, and babbagha remains more literary. This word names the bird, often seen in cages in homes or at pet sellers. Figuratively, someone who repeats what they hear without thinking is called a babbaghio, for example a pupil reciting by heart. In this sense the word is mocking but not rude. The plural is not stable, and people often avoid the problem with a construction like bezzaf dyal babbaghio.
Example
عندو ببغيو كيهضر بحال بنادم
3ndo babbaghio kayhder b7al bnadem
“He has a parrot that talks like a human.”
Forms
| plural | babbaghawat |
|---|
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “babbaghio” but also “babaghyo”, “bbeghyo”, “babbagha”, “babagha” and “babbagha2”. 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.