snna سنّة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“snna” (سنّة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning tooth.
Meanings
- tooth
Usage
Snna is the common word for a tooth. The plural is snan. People say "snnti katweje3ni", my tooth hurts, and the dentist is "tbib dyal snan". A molar is rather called dders. Important pitfall: the same Arabic spelling can be read sunna, the Prophetic tradition, or sana, "year" in Standard Arabic. In darija, people rather say l3am for "year", but sana appears in some expressions such as "fach men sana". Only pronunciation and context make it possible to tell these meanings apart.
Example
كون غير قدرت ن عوج ديك سنة لي عندي باش ترجع لبلاصتها
koun ghir 9dert n 3ewej dik snna li 3endi bach trje3 lblastha
“If only I could straighten that tooth I have, so that it goes back into place.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “snna” but also “senna”, “sna”, “sena” and “snnat”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “snna” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “year”; “tooth”: sna in Tunisian.