m3da معدة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“m3da” (معدة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning stomach.
Meanings
- stomach
Usage
M3da is the usual word for the stomach, both in the anatomical sense and in health complaints. It is feminine and often takes a possessive, with a linking t: m3edti (my stomach), m3edtek (your stomach). It is used mainly for pain, burning and acidity: "m3edti katdorrni" (my stomach hurts). For the belly in general, people tend to say kerch. The two words are not interchangeable: m3da is the organ, kerch is the belly area. Pronunciation varies (m3da, me3da, ma3da) by region and level of speech.
Example
معدتي كتضرني من الصباح
m3edti katdorrni mn sba7
“My stomach has been hurting since this morning.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “m3da” but also “me3da”, “ma3da” and “m3eda”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “m3da” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “stomach”: ma3da in Tunisian.