la9a7 لقاح
Tunisian Derja · noun
“la9a7” (لقاح) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning vaccine.
Meanings
- vaccine
Usage
La9a7 is the Arabic word for "vaccine". It is common in Tunisia, especially since the vaccination campaigns, on television as well as in conversation. In speech, many people also say "vaccin", borrowed from French, and use talqi7 for vaccination. You say khdhit el-la9a7 ("I got the vaccine") or 9adeh men dose khdhit ? ("how many doses did you get?"). The word is rather neutral and administrative. With children or at the pharmacy, the French word is often more natural.
Example
خذيت اللقاح البارح وتوا يوجعني ذراعي.
khdhit el la9a7 lbere7 w tawa youja3ni dhra3i.
“I got the vaccine yesterday and now my arm hurts.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “la9a7” but also “l9a7”, “lqa7” and “laqah”. 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; 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “la9a7” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “vaccine”: li9a7 in Moroccan.