# Moroccan Arabic: document, paper



## Pinishimi

Hi
I was watching a video in Moroccan Arabic, and I heard couple of times a word sounds like

 "Quaht" (قواحت)

and it was in the meaning of documents or official papers (IDs for example).
I've searched this word in any form of spelling in every dictionary I found, but I didn't find anything close to that.
Someone knows about it? Thx❤️


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## tounsi51

Maybe it was كواغت? That means papers in Moroccan Arabic


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## Pinishimi

*Edit-*
You're right, the singular is كاغيت which mean paper in general. 
Thanks a lot


_Original message:
Well yes it's may be..thanks!
If so, what's is the singular form?_


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## Mahaodeh

tounsi51 said:


> Maybe it was كواغت? That means papers in Moroccan Arabic



Interesting! In Iraq they say كواغد, singular كاغد for paper although it's becoming a little old fashioned these days. I've never heard it used elsewhere so it seems interesting how the same word would be used in the two most distant Arab countries and not used in between!

Does anyone know the origin of the word?


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## shafaq

I think its origin is Turkish "kağıt=paper/document" (pronunced as كاغِتْ); an adapted version of Persian "kagaz".


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## Alfaaz

Extra information (relevant entries from Platts' Urdu dictionary), just in case it might be of interest:


> P کاغذ _kāg̠az̤_ (for orig. _kāg̠ad_; said to be fr. _kāg̠_, 'sound or noise'+_da_, 'giving forth'), s.m. Paper; a paper, writing, document, deed; a charter, patent; an account; a note of hand, a bond; a printed or written sheet, a newspaper ...





> P کواغذ _kawāg̠aẕ_, or _kawāg̠iẕ_ (a barbarous pl. of _kāg̠aẕ_, after the model of the Arabic), s.m. pl. Papers; documents (=_kāg̠aẕāt_).





> P کاغذات _kāg̠aẕāt_, s.m. pl. (of _kāg̠aẕ_, after the model of the reg. pl. fem. of the Ar.), Papers, documents, records, &c.


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## tounsi51

In Tunisia, pronounced كاغت, we never use the plural form, it means paper towel or paper.

For papers and documents we say اوراق


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## Hemza

Both words are used in Morocco.


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## fdb

Mahaodeh said:


> Interesting! In Iraq they say كواغد, singular كاغد for paper although it's becoming a little old fashioned these days. I've never heard it used elsewhere so it seems interesting how the same word would be used in the two most distant Arab countries and not used in between!
> 
> Does anyone know the origin of the word?



The Arabs became familiar with paper after the conquest of Samarkand, in Sogdiana, which had a famous paper mill, and the Arabic word _kāγaδ_ is a borrowing from Sogdian word _kāγδa; _this is also the source of Old Turkish _kegde._ But the Sogdian word is itself probably a loan word from Greek χάρτης, borrowed during the Hellenistic period either directly from Greek, or via another Eastern Iranian language.


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## Hemza

I heard that it may come from a Chinese language/dialect but I have no other information.

Is the Greek word the origin of "carte" and/or "carton" in French? And do those French words have any link with "_kāγaδ_" or "_kegde_"?


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## Ghabi

Hemza said:


> I heard that it may come from a Chinese language/dialect but I have no other information.


I once wrote in this post.


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## fdb

Hemza said:


> Is the Greek word the origin of "carte" and/or "carton" in French?


Yes, via Latin carta.


Hemza said:


> And do those French words have any link with "_kāγaδ_" or "_kegde_"?


The link is their common origin in Greek.


Ghabi said:


> I once wrote in this post.


 The Chinese hypothesis is not currently in favour with scholars, but who knows?


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## Hemza

@fdb thank you


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## Ghabi

fdb said:


> But the Sogdian word is itself probably a loan word from Greek χάρτης


So in this sense كاغد is cognate to قرطاس, with the Greek word having entered Arabic twice through different routes, right?


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## fdb

Ghabi said:


> So in this sense كاغد is cognate to قرطاس, with the Greek word having entered Arabic twice through different routes, right?



Yes, exactly.


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## Mahaodeh

Ghabi said:


> So in this sense كاغد is cognate to قرطاس,



Historically قرطاس was used to mean a paper, however, in MSA it basically refers to a book one can write or draw in - not exactly cognate with دفتر but pretty close.

I've never read كاغد in MSA or in any Classical Arabic writings. But, I did find one entry in القاموس المحيط. The whole entry is: الكاغَدُ: القِرْطاسُ، مُعَرَّبٌ; which means that it was found but rather rarely or only in some regions otherwise all the classical dictionaries would list it.


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## cherine

Mahaodeh said:


> I've never read كاغد in MSA or in any Classical Arabic writings.


You'll find it used a lot in the field of manuscripts. I don't know how often, or whether it's used more -or less- than ورق, but it is a used term in that field.


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## foulaal

كاغط او كاغيط اوكاغيت 
We use these words in Morocco to talk about documents or papers.  
It can be used talk about : 
#Toilet paper
#rumpled paper sheet
Or to talk about  very important documents like :
#marriage license كاغط ديال الزواج 
#residency card كواغط


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