Gulf Arabic

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Uncertain, but probably ultimately from Latin cattus;[1] it may have been borrowed from Portuguese gato in the context of the Portuguese presence in the region. Regular sound changes from Arabic قِطّ m (qiṭṭ, he-cat) would have yielded *قِط or *گِط.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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قطو (gaṭum (plural قطاوة (gṭāwa), feminine قطوة (gaṭwa))

  1. a he-cat, a male cat.
    Synonym: عتوي (ʕitwi)

References

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  1. ^ Clive Holes, editor (2018 September 12), “The Arabic dialects of the Gulf”, in Arabic Historical Dialectology: Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Approaches (Oxford Studies in Historical and Diachronic Linguistics; 31), Oxford University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 117.