yedd ايد
Moroccan Darija · noun
“yedd” (ايد) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning hand (body part).
Meanings
- hand (body part)
- power, control (figurative)
Usage
A common word for the hand, pronounced "yedd" or "id" depending on region and speaker. It is feminine: one says "yeddi zwina", "my hand is pretty". It combines with possessives ("yeddi", my hand; "yeddek", your hand; "yeddu", his hand). The most frequent plural is "yeddin". Figuratively, it expresses power or the ability to act: "ma f yeddi walo" means "there is nothing I can do". The pitfall is the spelling: the same spoken form can be written with or without an initial alif.
Example
غسل يديك قبل ما تاكل
ghsel yeddik qbel ma takol
“Wash your hands before eating.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “yedd” but also “yed”, “id”, “idd” and “yadd”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “yedd” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written يد, where it means “hand (body part)”; “handle of a tool”: yed in Tunisian.