ktab كتاب
Moroccan Darija · noun
“ktab” (كتاب) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning book.
Meanings
- book
Usage
Ktab is the common word for "book", whether a novel, a school textbook or a religious work. The usual plural is ktub. It is used with the article (lktab, "the book"), and possession is most often marked with dyal: lktab dyali, "my book". Suffixed forms (ktabi) exist but are less common. The pronunciation kitab, closer to Standard Arabic, is also heard, especially among educated people. The figurative expression "ktab meftouh" (open book) describes a transparent person, as in English.
Example
هادا كتاب ديالها
hada ktab dyalha
“This is her book.”
Forms
| plural | ktoba |
|---|
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ktab” but also “kitab” and “ktaab”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “ktab” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “book”; “the Quran (ktab Allah)”: ktab in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “book”; “school textbook”: kteb in Tunisian.