n3ja نعجة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“n3ja” (نعجة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning ewe, female sheep.
Meanings
- ewe, female sheep
- docile, passive person
Usage
N3ja refers specifically to the ewe, the female sheep. The male is called kebch or ḥawli, and the collective is ghnem. The word is feminine and refers only to the female. The plural is n3aj. Figuratively, it describes a docile or passive person, sometimes with a pejorative nuance. It also appears in proverbs, where the ewe embodies fear or submission before the wolf, dib. In arabizi it is written n3ja, ne3ja or na3ja.
Example
لمرا إيلا شفت شيب بحال نعجة إيلا شفت ديب
lmra ila chaft chib b7al ne3ja ila chaft dib
“A woman who sees a white hair is like a ewe that sees a wolf.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “n3ja” but also “ne3ja”, “na3ja” and “n3eja”. 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 “n3ja” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “ewe, female sheep”; “docile, sheep-like person (pejorative)”: n3ja in Algerian.