gattousa قطوسة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“gattousa” (قطوسة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning she-cat, female cat.
Meanings
- she-cat, female cat
- little she-cat, female kitten
Usage
Gattousa is the feminine of gattous, the common Tunisian word for "cat". It is used for the pet or stray animal, and the diminutive gtaytsa means a little she-cat. The word is also used affectionately for a little girl or a young woman considered cute. The context and tone must stay tender, because in some contexts this kind of word can take on a mocking tone. The usual plural is gtates, shared by both genders. Mind the pronunciation: the qaf is realized here as "g", as is often the case in Tunisian speech for this word, hence the spellings with g rather than 9.
Example
القطوسة متاعنا ولدت أربعة قطاطس.
el gattousa mta3na weldet arb3a gtates.
“Our cat had four kittens.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “gattousa” but also “gatousa”, “9attousa”, “gattoussa” and “qattousa”. 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.