mouja موجة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“mouja” (موجة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning a wave (of the sea).
Meanings
- a wave (of the sea)
- wave (of heat, cold)
Usage
Mouja is the singulative of mouj: it refers to a single wave. Its usual plural is mouwjat. The word is also used figuratively, especially in media language: mouja dyal sskhana, "heat wave", mouja dyal lberd, "cold wave". These figurative uses come from Standard Arabic but have become well established in everyday speech. The word is feminine: mouja kbira. To talk about waves in general, the collective lmouj is preferred.
Example
جات موجة كبيرة وداتلو الصندالة
jat mouja kbira w datlo sandala
“A big wave came and carried off his sandal.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mouja” but also “mawja”, “mowja”, “mwja” and “moja”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mouja” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “wave (of the sea)”; “wave (of heat, cold)”: mouja in Tunisian.