lkhddama لخدّامة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“lkhddama” (لخدّامة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning employees, workers, staff.
Meanings
- employees, workers, staff
- housemaid
Usage
Lkheddama is the plural of "khddam" (worker, employee). It refers to the employees of a company, a building site or an administration: "lkheddama dyal l-meɛmel" (the factory workers). There is a pitfall. Pronounced as a feminine singular, "l-kheddama" also means the housemaid or domestic help. Only context distinguishes the two meanings: a plural verb indicates employees, a feminine singular verb indicates the domestic. To avoid ambiguity, you can say "l-mouwaddafin" (civil servants) or "nnas lli khddamin".
Example
أنا راه غير واحد من لخدّامة
ana rah ghir wa7d mn lkhddama
“I'm just one of the employees.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lkhddama” but also “lkheddama”, “l5ddama”, “lkhedama” and “lkhaddama”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.