ghtta غطّا
Moroccan Darija · verb
“ghtta” (غطّا) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to cover, cover up.
Meanings
- to cover, cover up
- to hide, conceal
- to cover (someone) with a blanket
Usage
Ghtta is the usual verb for "to cover": you cover a pot, a dish, a sleeping child, your face. It takes the object directly (ghtta tobsil, "he covered the plate") or takes b- for the thing used to cover (ghtta l-weld b l-manta, "he covered the child with the blanket"). The present is kayghetti, the imperative ghetti. Figuratively, it also means to hide a fault or to protect someone (ghtta 3lih, "he covered for him"). The related noun, ghta, means lid or blanket. Spelling in arabizi varies a lot, depending on whether the doubled consonant is written.
Example
غطّا وجهو و بكا
ghTTa wj8ou w bka
“He covered his face and cried.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanghTTi | ghTTat | |
| nta (you, m.) | katghTTi | ghTTati | ghTTi |
| nti (you, f.) | katghTTi | ghTTati | ghTTi |
| howa (he) | kayghTTi | ghTTa | |
| hiya (she) | katghTTi | ghTTaat | |
| 7na (we) | kanghTTiw | ghTTana | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katghTTiw | ghTTato | ghTTiw |
| homa (they) | kayghTTiw | ghTTao |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ghtta” but also “ghetta” and “ghta”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find غطّا and غطى, all the same word.
Type “ghtta” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written غطى, where it means “to cover”; “to hide, cover up (a flaw)”: ghatta in Tunisian.