tb9a طبقة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“tb9a” (طبقة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning layer, stratum.
Meanings
- layer, stratum
- social class
Usage
Tb9a refers to a superimposed layer: a coat of paint, a tier of a cake, or a stratum of ground. The plural is tb9at. Figuratively, it means a social class, as in tb9a lmetwasta, "the middle class", or tb9a chaabiya, "the working classes". This sense belongs to a more formal register, close to that of the media. For the floor of a building, people say taba9 or the French word "étage" instead. Tb9a is not used for a floor of a building.
Example
هاد الكاطو فيه جوج طبقات
had lgato fih joj tb9at
“This cake has two layers.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tb9a” but also “tab9a”, “tabaqa”, “tbqa” and “tabqa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “tb9a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “layer, coating”; “social class”: tab9a in Tunisian.