I know <em>jaddah</em> is the word for grandma, but I've also heard <em>sittah (؟ستة)</em> and <em>tetah (؟تتة)</em>, which I believe are not standard. But I would like to know their use and if they're like maternal and paternal grandmother forms. Thank you!
We call grandmothers the same whether they're from the mother or the father side, but those different words represent different accents, I'll give you an example from my country:
As a Jordanian from a small town I call my grandmother (jeddity: جِدتي), but Jordanians from Palestinian origion they usually call their grandmothers (sitti: سِتي), Syrians and Lebanese usually call her (teta: تِيتا).
So it's really a matter of different accents :)
Thanks Mumtaz and Liwaa!!! All questions clear. شكرا جزلا!
جدة "Jaddah" is the Formal version of the word (Al-Fosha)
and it's used in many dialects (Egyptian - UAE - Saudi ...)
ستي "Sitty" has the same meaning but not formal, (used in Lebanon, Syria, Palestien ...)
the word is derivated from the word ست "sitt" which means Madam (+ باء المتكلم) so it means My Grandma
"Teta" is used in Lebanon and "Tete" in Syria (and I don't know about the others) the same dialects which use "Sitty", Teta/Tete is used by the chidren usually
jaddah is in MSA, the other two are from another dialect. I know that tetah is used by Palestinian and some Syrians. Some Hejazis (west coast of Saudi Arabia) I know use sittah to refer to their grandmothers.
the word Jaddah is in classical Arabic ..
as for the word ستة,firstly, it is not like this , and I'm sure you mean ستّي or ستّو and also you mean (تيتة) in stead of تتة .. and all of these words : ستّو and ستّي and تيتة means jaddati ( my grandma) , but in egyption dialect .