d9i9a دقيقة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“d9i9a” (دقيقة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning minute.
Meanings
- minute
- a moment, a second
Usage
Dqiqa is the usual word for "minute", both literally and in the sense of "a moment". Used alone, it asks someone to wait: dqiqa!, "one minute!", or ghir dqiqa, "just a minute". The plural is dqayq. After the numbers three to ten, it is preceded by the article: tlata d dqayq. For a vague length of time, people also say wahed dqiqa or chi dqiqa. Moroccans also use the French word "minute" in conversation. The register is neutral and it is used in all situations.
Example
دقيقة هاني جاي
d9i9a hani jay
“One minute, I'm coming.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “d9i9a” but also “dqiqa”, “da9i9a”, “daqiqa” and “d9ii9a”. 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.
Type “d9i9a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “minute (unit of time)”; “a moment, a little while”: dqiqa in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “minute”; “a moment”: d9i9a in Tunisian.