raya راية
Moroccan Darija · noun
“raya” (راية) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning flag.
Meanings
- flag
- banner, standard
Usage
Raya is the usual word for a flag, especially the national flag: lraya lmeghribiya is the Moroccan flag, often waved at national team matches. The word is feminine, and its usual plural is rayat. In a more formal register, on television or in speeches, you also hear the standard word l3alam, while the loanword drapo is heard mostly among French speakers. Raya is used with the verbs hezz (to raise, to wave) and 3elleq (to hang). The possessor is built with dyal: raya dyal lblad, "the flag of the country".
Example
أشانهوا المعنى ديال الألوان ديال راية ديال البلاد؟
achanhowa lme3na dial l2elwan dial raya dial lblad ?
“What is the meaning of the colors of the country's flag?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “raya” but also “raia”, “raiya” and “raya2”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop.
Type “raya” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “flag, banner”: raya in Tunisian.