li9a7 لقاح
Moroccan Darija · noun
“li9a7” (لقاح) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning vaccine.
Meanings
- vaccine
Usage
Li9a7 comes from Standard Arabic. Its use became widespread in Morocco with vaccination campaigns, notably against Covid, through the media and official announcements. People say dar l-li9a7 for "to get vaccinated" and d-doz l-loula dyal l-li9a7 for "the first dose of the vaccine". In casual conversation, the French borrowing vaksan is also heard, or simply jelba ("shot") for the injection itself. The word has a slightly official tone, but it is understood everywhere.
Example
واش درتي اللقاح ولا مازال؟
wach derti l-li9a7 wla mazal?
“Did you get the vaccine or not yet?”
Forms
| plural | li9a7at |
|---|
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 “li9a7” but also “liqa7”, “lli9a7” and “l9a7”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat; 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “li9a7” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “vaccine”: la9a7 in Tunisian.