Lesson 72 · B2

Wlid, bnita, dwira

English says “little”: little house, little girl, little man. Darija changes the word itself: dar → dwira, bent → bnita, rajel → rjiyyel. The uses are ones you know: small, dear, or beneath contempt.

Form the most common diminutives.
Tell affection, size and contempt apart.
Avoid giving offence with the wrong one.
Read a lullaby and a children's song.

Twenty-four words

The first family: diminutives of size and affection. The second: of contempt or “not much”. The rest come from the lullaby and the song.

Small and dear

وْلِيدْ wlid little boy; my boy
From weld.
بْنِيتَة bnita little girl
From bent.
دْوِيرَة dwira little house
From dar.
كْتَيّْبْ ktiyyeb booklet
خْبِيزَة khbiza little loaf
قْطِيطَة qtita kitten
صْغِيوْرْ sghiwer teeny
Diminutive of an adjective.

Not much

رْجِيّْلْ rjiyyel little man (scornful)
خْدِيمَة khdima a bit of a job
Dismissive or modest.
شْوِيَّة shwiyya a little
Itself a diminutive of shi, “something”.
شْوِيَّة بْشْوِيَّة shwiyya b shwiyya little by little

The lullaby

نِينِي nini sleep (to a baby)
Baby talk.
نْعَسْ n3es to fall asleep
الْمْهْدْ l-mehd cradle
هَزّْ hezz to rock
غْنَّى ghenna to sing
الْعْشَا l-3sha dinner
طَابْ tab to be cooked; be ready

The rain song

الشْتَا sh-shta rain
الْحْرَّاثْ l-7errat ploughman
الْمْعَلّْمْ l-m3allem master (of a trade)
Here, the neighbourhood baker.
الْفْرّْانْ l-ferran baker (at the communal oven)

Affection

الْحْنِينْ l-7nin tenderness
الْعْزِيزْ l-3ziz dear

Diminutives from the inside

Four sentences. Find the word each diminutive comes from and spot the new i.

آ وْلِيدَاتْ الْحْرَّاثَةa wlidat l-7errata
طَيّْبْ لِيَّ خْبِيزْتِي بْكْرِيteyyeb liyya khbizti bekri
سَاكْنِينْ فْوَاحْدْ الدْوِيرَة صْغِيوْرَةsaknin f wa7ed d-dwira sghiwra
شْكُونْ هَادْ الرْجِيّْلْ اللِّي كَيْغَوّْتْ؟shkun had r-rjiyyel lli kayghewwet?

Which word does khbiza come from? And rjiyyel? Is sentence 4 affectionate?

The rule

The diminutive slips an -i- in after the second consonant: weld → wlid, bent → bnita, khubza → khbiza.

Short words or words with a long vowel get -w- or -iyy-: dar → dwira, ktab → ktiyyeb, rajel → rjiyyel, sghir → sghiwer.

Feminine adds -a: bnita, dwira, qtita.

Three uses: size (dwira), affection (wlidi, “my little boy”), contempt (rjiyyel, khdima).

Some are just ordinary words now: shwiyya, “a little”, is a diminutive no one hears as one.

Common diminutives

Form	Say it	Means
وْلْدْ ← وْلِيدْ	weld → wlid	boy → little boy
بْنْتْ ← بْنِيتَة	bent → bnita	girl → little girl
دَارْ ← دْوِيرَة	dar → dwira	house → little house
كْتَابْ ← كْتَيّْبْ	ktab → ktiyyeb	book → booklet
خُبْزَة ← خْبِيزَة	khubza → khbiza	loaf → little loaf
صْغِيرْ ← صْغِيوْرْ	sghir → sghiwer	small → teeny
رَاجْلْ ← رْجِيّْلْ	rajel → rjiyyel	man → little man (scornful)
خْدْمَة ← خْدِيمَة	khedma → khdima	job → a bit of a job

Rows 7 and 8: diminutive as put-down.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: the uses. “Little man” can sneer in English too; “my little one” is tender.

Costly: the form. English adds “little” or -ie; Darija rebuilds the word. Learn them as vocabulary.

Costly: frequency. Darija uses them a lot inside the family, and very little outside it.

Your mistake, not someone else's

Trying to sound warm, you use a diminutive with an adult stranger. It comes across as mockery.

×شْكْرًا آ الرْجِيّْلْ“Thanks, little man”.

✓شْكْرًا آ السِّي“Thank you, sir”.

Keep affection for children and family: wlidi, bnita.

A lullaby and a rain song

Two texts nearly every Moroccan learnt as a child, in one of their common versions: there are many. The lullaby sends the baby to sleep while dinner cooks. Children sing the song when it rains.

نِينِّي يَا مُومُّو،

حْتَّى يْطِيبْ عْشَانَا،

وْ إِلَا مَا طَابْ عْشَانَا،

يْطِيبْ عْشَا جِيرَانَّا.

Lullaby: “Ninni ya mummu”

آ الشْتَا تَاتَا تَاتَا،

آ وْلِيدَاتْ الْحْرَّاثَة،

آ الْمْعَلّْمْ بُوزْكْرِي،

طَيّْبْ لِيَّ خْبِيزْتِي بْكْرِي.

Rain song: “A sh-shta tata tata”

Nana y cancioncilla infantil de tradición oral marroquí, sin autor, en una de sus versiones corrientes. Transcripción de Learning Darija · dominio público

Did you follow?

Until when should the baby sleep?
Show answers
Until dinner is cooked.
And if dinner isn't ready?
Show answers
The neighbours' will be.
Who do the children call in the song?
Show answers
The ploughman's little children and master Bu Zekri.
What do they ask the master?
Show answers
To bake their little loaf early.

Check

Two here, three more in the B2 book.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the B2 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Match

Word to diminutive.

1	دَارْ	a	كْتَيّْبْ
2	بْنْتْ	b	دْوِيرَة
3	كْتَابْ	c	خْبِيزَة
4	خُبْزَة	d	بْنِيتَة
5	رَاجْلْ	e	رْجِيّْلْ

2Sort

Affection or contempt?

بْنِيتْتِيرْجِيّْلْوْلِيدِيخْدِيمَةقْطِيطَةدْرِيهْمَاتْ

Affection

Contempt

3True or false?

According to both texts.

The lullaby puts the baby to sleep while dinner cooks.

The rest is in the B2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B2 book

4Diminutive

Form the diminutive from the clue.

وْلْدْ (صْغِيرْ)

The rest is in the B2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B2 book

5As a child

Tell a childhood memory in five sentences, with diminutives.

وْلِيدْبْنِيتَةدْوِيرَةصْغِيوْرْنْعَسْ

The rest is in the B2 book

The B2 book

Show answers

1. Match	1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c, 5-e
2. Sort	Affection: بْنِيتْتِي · وْلِيدِي · قْطِيطَة / Contempt: رْجِيّْلْ · خْدِيمَة · دْرِيهْمَاتْ

The B2 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

Form common diminutives.
Use them tenderly or scornfully.
Keep them away from strangers.
Read a traditional lullaby.