dafe3 دافع
Moroccan Darija · verb
“dafe3” (دافع) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to defend, protect.
Meanings
- to defend, protect
- to plead (in court)
Usage
Dafe3, imperfect ydafe3, means "to defend" someone or a cause. It takes 3la: dafe3 3lih, "he defended him". A construction with m3a also exists, meaning "to take someone's side". In legal usage the verb means "to plead", and the lawyer is called lmoudafi3. The word has another reading too. In writing, dafe3 can be the participle of dfe3, "to push", or of "to submit a file". So rani dafe3 lwraq means "I have submitted the papers". Only context distinguishes these two meanings.
Example
ضروري ن دافع عليك
darori n dafa3 3lik
“I have to defend you.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kandaf3 | daf3t | |
| nta (you, m.) | katdaf3 | daf3ti | daf3 |
| nti (you, f.) | katdaf3i | daf3ti | daf3i |
| howa (he) | kaydaf3 | daf3 | |
| hiya (she) | katdaf3 | daf3at | |
| 7na (we) | kandaf3o | daf3na | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katdaf3o | daf3to | daf3o |
| homa (they) | kaydaf3o | daf3o |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dafe3” but also “daf3”, “dafa3”, “daafe3” and “daaf3”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “dafe3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to defend someone or something”; “to plead for, support a cause”: defa3 in Tunisian.