watani وطني
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“watani” (وطني) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning national.
Meanings
- national
- patriotic
Usage
WaTani comes from "lwaTan" (the homeland) and is commonly used, often in set expressions: "lmontakhab lwaTani" (the national team), "TTri9 lwaTaniya" (the national road), "l3id lwaTani" (national holiday). The feminine is "waTaniya" and the plural "waTaniyin". Applied to a person, it means patriot: "hada waTani m9e77ed". The register is neutral. The word is used equally in conversation and in the media.
Example
المنتخب الوطني ربح الماتش البارح
lmontakhab lwaTani rbe7 lmatch lbare7
“The national team won the match yesterday.”
Forms
| feminine | waTania |
|---|---|
| plural | waTaniyin |
| feminine plural | waTanyyat |
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “watani” but also “wattani”, “wa6ani” and “wa6ni”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 6 is emphatic ta (ط).