mkhadda مخدة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“mkhadda” (مخدة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning pillow.
Meanings
- pillow
- cushion
Usage
Mkhadda is the usual word for the pillow you rest your head on to sleep. By extension, it can mean a sofa cushion, although people also say "coussin" in the French way. The plural is mkhaded. It is an everyday word, used in all registers, at home as in a hotel. It is often used in simple requests: "jibli mkhadda" (bring me a pillow). The pillowcase is commonly called "wjah el-mkhadda" or is simply named with a French borrowing.
Example
تنجم تجيبلي مخدة أخرى؟
tnajjem tjibli mkhadda okhra?
“Can you bring me another pillow?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mkhadda” but also “m5adda”, “mkhada”, “m5ada”, “makhadda” and “mkhadde”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find مخدة and مخده, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “mkhadda” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “pillow”; “cushion”: mkhedda in Moroccan.