bba ببا
Moroccan Darija · noun
“bba” (ببا) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning dad, my father.
Meanings
- dad, my father
- father (with possessive)
Usage
Bba is the affectionate, common word for "dad". Used alone, it means the speaker's father, and is also used to address him: bba!, "dad!". With a possessive, it becomes bbak, "your father", or bbah, "his father". The forms baba and babak are just as common and partly interchangeable. The word also serves as a term of respect for an older man. It should not be confused with bouya, more traditional or rural, nor with l-walid, more formal and respectful.
Example
بّا ماكاينش فالدار، خرج للخدمة
bba makaynch f d-dar, khrej l l-khedma
“Dad isn't home, he left for work.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bba” but also “baba”, “bbaba” and “pba”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bba” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “dad, father”; “term of endearment for a child”: bba in Tunisian.