Darija lesson 63: Spanish in the north

1

Twenty-four words

The first two families are heard nationwide. The third mostly in the north: Tetouan, Tangier, Larache, the Rif.

Nationwide

السّْبِيطَارْ s-sbitar hospital
Spanish hospital.
الْكُوزِينَة l-kuzina kitchen
Spanish cocina.
الْبْلَاصَة l-blasa seat; spot
Spanish plaza, but it means “a place to sit”.
الرّْوِيضَة r-rwida wheel
Spanish rueda.
الْمَارْيُو l-maryu wardrobe
Spanish armario, minus the ar-.
الْكَامْيُو l-kamyu lorry; truck
Spanish camión.

Also from Spanish

الْكَاوْكَاوْ l-kawkaw peanuts
Spanish cacahuete, shortened.
الْمَانْطَة l-manta blanket
Spanish manta.
الْكْرُوسَة l-krusa cart
Spanish carroza.
الصّْبْلْيُونِي s-sbelyuni Spanish; Spaniard
Spanish español.
صْبَانْيَا sbanya Spain

Mainly in the north

الْكُوتْشِي l-kuchi car (north)
Spanish coche. Elsewhere, tomobil.
السِّيمَانَة s-simana week (north)
Spanish semana. Elsewhere, jum3a.
الْفِيشْطَة l-fishta party (north)
Spanish fiesta. Elsewhere, 7efla.
ڭْرَاسْيَاسْ grasyas thanks (north, casual)
Spanish gracias.
الْبِيسِيطَا l-bisita peseta
Some northern markets still count in bisita.

History

الْحِمَايَة l-7imaya Protectorate
“Protection”.
الِاسْتِعْمَارْ l-isti3mar colonisation
الْمُعَاهْدَة l-mu3ahda treaty
الِاسْتِقْلَالْ l-istiqlal independence
حْتَلّْ 7tell to occupy
سْتَاقْلْ staqel to become independent

The north

الشّْمَالْ sh-shamal the north
الرِّيفْ r-rif the Rif

2

Spanish word, Arabic grammar

Four sentences. Look at the adjective on each loan and the plural of blasa.

دِّيتْ خُويَا لْلسّْبِيطَارْ، وْ السّْبِيطَارْ كَانْ عَامْرْddit khuya l s-sbitar, u s-sbitar kan 3amer
الْكُوزِينَة دْيَالْ جَدّْتِي كَانْتْ كْبِيرَة بْزَّافْl-kuzina dyal jeddti kant kbira bzzaf
فْتِطْوَانْ كَيْقُولُو كُوتْشِي، وْ فْكَازَا طُومُوبِيلْf Titwan kayqulu kuchi, u f Kaza tomobil
الْبْلَايْصْ اللِّي حْتْلَّاتْ صْبَانْيَا كَانُو فْالشّْمَالْ وْ فْالصّْحْرَاl-blayes lli 7tellat Sbanya kanu f sh-shamal u f s-se7ra

Is kuzina masculine or feminine? And sbitar? What's the plural of blasa in sentence 4?

The rule

Gender: ends in -a, feminine: l-kuzina kbira. Otherwise masculine: s-sbitar kbir.

Plural: old loans take a broken plural, like native words: blasa → blayes, rwida → rwayed, kuzina → kwazen. The rest, -at: sbitarat.

North and centre: where the north uses a Spanish word, the centre often uses a French or Arabic one: kuchi / tomobil, simana / jum3a, fishta / 7efla.

Gender, plural, region

Form	Say it	Means
الْكُوزِينَة كْبِيرَة	l-kuzina kbira	the kitchen is big
السّْبِيطَارْ كْبِيرْ	s-sbitar kbir	the hospital is big
بْلَاصَة ← بْلَايْصْ	blasa → blayes	seat → seats
رْوِيضَة ← رْوَايْضْ	rwida → rwayed	wheel → wheels
كُوزِينَة ← كْوَازْنْ	kuzina → kwazen	kitchen → kitchens
سْبِيطَارْ ← سْبِيطَارَاتْ	sbitar → sbitarat	hospital → hospitals
الْكُوتْشِي ← الطُّومُوبِيلْ	l-kuchi → t-tomobil	car: north → elsewhere
السِّيمَانَة ← الْجُّمْعَة	s-simana → j-jum3a	week: north → elsewhere

Rows 3 to 5: broken plurals, like ktab → ktub. The word has gone native.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: if you know any Spanish, most of this list is transparent.

Costly: gender. English has none; the -a rule is your guide.

Costly: the plural. Don't add -s, and don't assume -at: blayes, kwazen.

Costly: meaning drift. blasa isn't a town square: it's a seat, a free spot.

Your mistake, not someone else's

You learnt that recent loans take -at (lesson 62) and apply it everywhere. But blasa has been in Darija for centuries.

×جُوجْ بْلَاصَاتْRegular plural on an old loan.

✓جُوجْ بْلَايْصْ“Two seats”.

Same with rwida → rwayed: you saw it in the car article.

3

The Protectorate, told in Darija

A real extract from the Darija Wikipedia article “لحماية الصبليونية على لمغريب”. Notice sbelyuni, “Spanish”, and l-blayes, “the places”: both Spanish loans.

لْحِمَايَة الصّْبْلْيُونِيَّة عْلَى لْمْغْرِيبْ […]، اللِّي تْسْمَّى تَا لْإِسْتِعْمَارْ الصّْبْلْيُونِي عْلَى لْمْغْرِيبْ، كَانْ هُوَ النِّظَامْ اللِّي طْبّْقَاتُو صْبَانْيَا عْلَى لْبْلَايْصْ دْ لْمْغْرِيبْ اللِّي حْتْلَّاتْهُمْ مْنْ 1912 لْ 1975.

بْدَاتْ لْحِمَايَة الصّْبْلْيُونِيَّة عْلَى لْمْغْرِيبْ مْنْ بْعْدْ مَا اتّْافْقَاتْ صْبَانْيَا مْعَ فْرَانْسَا عْلَى كِيفَاشْ أَيْتْقَاسْمُو لْأَرَاضِي دْ لْمْغْرِيبْ، فْ لْمُعَاهْدَة اللِّي كَانْتْ بِينَاتْهُمْ فْ 27 نُونْبْرْ 1912.

مْنْ مُورَا هَادْ لْمُعَاهْدَة، حْكْمَاتْ صْبَانْيَا لْمَنْطْقَة دْيَالْ الشّْمَالْ (جْبَالَة وْ الرِّيفْ)، وْ سِيدِي إِيفْنِي وْ طَرْفَايَة وْ الصّْحْرَا.

لْعَاصِمَة دْيَالْ هَادْ لْمَنَاطِقْ كَامْلَة كَانْتْ هِيَ لْمْدِينَة دْيَالْ تِطْوَانْ، وْ فِيهَا فِينْ كَانْ كِيسْكُنْ لْخْلِيفَة السُّلْطَانِي.

سْتَاقْلْ الشّْمَالْ نْهَارْ 7 أَبْرِيلْ 1956، فْنْفْسْ لْعَامْ اللِّي سْتَاقْلْ فِيهْ لْوْسْطْ اللِّي كَانْ تَابْعْ لْلْحِمَايَة لْفْرَانْسَاوِيَّة.

“The Spanish Protectorate in Morocco”, ary.wikipedia (extract)

«لحماية الصبليونية على لمغريب», Wikipedia en darija (ary.wikipedia.org), autores de Wikipedia. Extracto con cortes marcados […]; vocalización de Learning Darija · CC BY-SA 4.0

Did you follow?

From when to when did Spain occupy parts of Morocco?
Show answers
1912 to 1975.
Which country did Spain divide Morocco with?
Show answers
France, in the treaty of November 1912.
What was the capital of the Spanish zone?
Show answers
Tetouan, seat of the sultan's khalifa.
When did the north become independent?
Show answers
7 April 1956.

4

Check

Two here, three more in the B1 book.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the B1 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Sort

From Spanish or from French?

الْكُوتْشِيالطُّومُوبِيلْالسِّيمَانَةالشَّارْجُورْالْكَاوْكَاوْالْفْرِيجِيدِيرْالْمَارْيُوالْبُّورْطَابْلْ

From Spanish

From French

2Fill the gap

With the right adjective or plural.

كبيرةكبيربلايصروايض

الكوزينة ديالهم ___
السبيطار الجديد ___
ما بقاوش ___ فالكار
الطوموبيل عندها ربعة د ___

3True or false?

According to the article.

Spain and France signed a treaty in 1912.

The rest is in the B1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

4Plural

Put the loan in the plural, with the number given.

بْلَاصَة (جُوجْ)

The rest is in the B1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

5A week up north

In five sentences, describe a trip to the north and the words you heard.

الشّْمَالْصْبَانْيَاالْكُوتْشِيالسِّيمَانَةكَيْقُولُو

The rest is in the B1 book

The B1 book

Show answers

1. Sort	From Spanish: الْكُوتْشِي · السِّيمَانَة · الْكَاوْكَاوْ · الْمَارْيُو / From French: الطُّومُوبِيلْ · الشَّارْجُورْ · الْفْرِيجِيدِيرْ · الْبُّورْطَابْلْ
2. Fill the gap	كبيرة · كبير · بلايص · روايض

The B1 book: In preparation

Write and I will tell you the day it is out. One email, no list.

Tell me when it is out

I can now

Recognise Spanish loans.
Form their plural, broken or -at.
Tell which words are northern.
Read a history text in Darija.