la7da لحظة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“la7da” (لحظة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning moment, instant.
Meanings
- moment, instant
- just a moment!
Usage
La7da refers to a very short moment. The word comes from Standard Arabic but is common in speech. It is found mostly in set phrases: "f ay la7da" (at any moment, any moment now), "f had la7da" (right now), "f la7da" (in an instant). Used alone, "la7da!" is used to ask someone to wait, like "just a moment!". For an ordinary wait, people more often say "chwiya", "wa7d d9i9a" or "tsenna chwiya". La7da has a somewhat more formal or emotional tone: it is often heard in songs and TV series.
Example
الفرملية غادي يكونو عنا فأي لحظة
lframlia ghadi ykono 8na f ay l7Da
“The emergency responders will be here any moment now.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “la7da” but also “l7da”, “la7dha”, “lahda” and “la7za”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find لحظة and لحضة, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “la7da” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “moment, instant”: lahda in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “moment, instant”; “just a moment! (asking to wait)”: la7dha in Tunisian.