l9a لقا
Moroccan Darija · verb
“l9a” (لقا) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to find.
Meanings
- to find
- to meet, run into someone
- to come across someone
Usage
L9a is the common verb for "to find". It is conjugated as follows: l9it "I found", kanl9a "I find", l9ah "he found it". It applies equally to a lost object (l9it sarout "I found the key"), a solution, or a person. It can also mean "to come across someone, to meet". The form mal9itch expresses failure: "I didn't find it". The letter q is pronounced 9 in cities and g in many regions, hence the spellings l9a and lga. Do not confuse it with tla9a, "to meet each other".
Example
لقا واحد بنت ناس
l9a wahd bnt nass
“He found himself a girl from a good family.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanl9a | l9it | |
| nta (you, m.) | katl9a | l9iti | l9a |
| nti (you, f.) | katl9ay | l9iti | l9ay |
| howa (he) | kayl9a | l9a | |
| hiya (she) | katl9a | l9at | |
| 7na (we) | kanl9aw | l9ina | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katl9aw | l9ito | l9aw |
| homa (they) | kayl9aw | l9aw |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “l9a” but also “lqa”, “lga”, “l9aa” and “lka”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find لقا and لقى, all the same word.
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 “l9a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
The same word also exists in Algerian Darja, written لقى, where it means “to find, come across”; “to meet someone by chance”: lqa in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written لقى, where it means “to find”; “to meet, come across”: l9a in Tunisian.