sted3a ستدعا
Moroccan Darija · verb
“sted3a” (ستدعا) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to summon (police, court).
Meanings
- to summon (police, court)
- to call in, to send for
Usage
Sted3a is used mostly in an official setting: when an administration, the police or a court sted3a someone, it summons them. It is also used for sports selection, when the coach sted3a a player to the national team. The noun stid3a means the summons. This register is administrative and journalistic. To simply say call or send for someone, 3iyet 3la or siftou l... are more usual. The verb is most often in the passive or the third person: sted3awh (he was summoned).
Example
البوليس ستدعاوه للكوميسارية
lbolis sted3awh l lkomissariya
“The police summoned him to the police station.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kansted3i | sted3it | |
| nta (you, m.) | katsted3i | sted3iti | sted3i |
| nti (you, f.) | katsted3i | sted3iti | sted3i |
| howa (he) | kaysted3i | sted3a | |
| hiya (she) | katsted3i | sted3aat | |
| 7na (we) | kansted3iw | sted3ina | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katsted3iw | sted3ito | sted3iw |
| homa (they) | kaysted3iw | sted3ao |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sted3a” but also “stad3a”, “std3a” and “steda3a”. 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.