wehda وحدة
Moroccan Darija · numeral
“wehda” (وحدة) is a numeral in Moroccan Darija meaning one (feminine).
Meanings
- one (feminine)
- loneliness
- unity
Usage
Wehda is first of all the feminine of wahed, "one": wehda okhra ("another one"), wehda menhom ("one of them"). Used alone, it works as a pronoun for a feminine thing or person, and often means "a woman, a girl" in a neutral way. With the article, lwehda means "loneliness": kanhess b lwehda ("I feel alone"). In a more formal register, it means "unity" (lwehda lwatanya, national unity). Note: before a noun, people rather say wahd (wahd lbent, "a girl"); wehda does not come before the noun.
Example
زيد وحدة أخرى
zid whda okhra
“Add another one.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “wehda” but also “w7da”, “wa7da”, “whda” and “we7da”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “wehda” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “one (feminine numeral)”; “a woman, a girl”: wahda in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “one (feminine numeral and pronoun)”; “being alone, solitude”: wa7da in Tunisian.