m3il9a معيلقة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“m3il9a” (معيلقة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning teaspoon, small spoon.
Meanings
- teaspoon, small spoon
Usage
M3il9a is the diminutive of m3el9a ("spoon"). It refers to the small spoon used for tea, coffee or desserts. The diminutive is very much alive in darija: it indicates small size, sometimes with an affectionate nuance. It is readily used in cooking for measures, as in m3il9a d sskkar ("a spoonful of sugar"). The plural is m3al9. The "9" in arabizi stands for the qaf sound, which some regions pronounce as "g".
Example
زيد ليا معيلقة ديال السكر
zid liya m3il9a dyal sskkar
“Add a teaspoon of sugar for me.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “m3il9a” but also “m3ilqa”, “m3ilka” and “mo3il9a”. 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; 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.