balto بالطو
Moroccan Darija · noun
“balto” (بالطو) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning coat.
Meanings
- coat
- overcoat, long jacket
Usage
Balto is an adapted loanword and very common. It refers to the winter coat, longer and thicker than a simple jacket, which is rather called "jakita". The most frequent plural is "baltowat". It is heard in daily life, at the market or within the family, when the cold arrives: "lbes lbalto dyalek". The word is pronounced with an open a and a final o. In practice it covers any coat, not only the short overcoat.
Example
لبس البالطو راه البرد
lbes lbalto rah lberd
“Put your coat on, it's cold.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “balto” but also “palto”, “baltou” and “baltow”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “balto” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “coat”; “overcoat”: balto in Algerian.