menta9a منطقة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“menta9a” (منطقة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning zone, region.
Meanings
- zone, region
- district, area
Usage
A very common word for a geographical zone, an administrative region or a sector of a city. You say lmenTa9a with the article, and the plural is mnaTe9. It is used both for a vast territory, like lmenTa9a dial chamal, and for a specific place: had lmenTa9a fiha bzaf dyal zz7am. In everyday speech, to talk about a neighbourhood, 7uma or 7ay are used more often. MenTa9a keeps a somewhat more general or administrative tone.
Example
تانفكّر واش نقدر ندخل ل هاد منطقة
tanfkker wach n9dr ndkhol l had minta9a
“I wonder whether I can enter this area.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “menta9a” but also “mnta9a”, “manti9a”, “minta9a” and “manta9a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.