Darija lesson 81: sarut, the Amazigh key

1

Twenty-four words

The first family: everyday Amazigh loans. The third: the Amazigh languages. The rest: the areas where the substrate shows most.

From Amazigh

السَّارُوتْ s-sarut key
From tasarut.
الشّْرْجْمْ sh-sherjem window
From asrzm. Also serjem.
الْبْرَاوَة l-brawa letter
From tabrat. Also briyya.
النّْݣَّافَة n-neggafa bride's dresser
From tamengaft. A wedding trade.
صِيفْطْ sifet to send
From yssifed.
دْغْيَا degya quickly; right away
From dghi.
الْبْزّْ l-bzz little kids
Casual.

Plurals and derived forms

السّْوَارْتْ s-swaret keys
Broken plural.
الشّْرَاجْمْ sh-shrajem windows
Broken plural.
مْصِيفْطْ msifet sent
Arabic participle from an Amazigh root.

Amazigh languages

الْأَمَازِيغِيَّة l-amazighiyya Amazigh (language)
The people's own name, preferred to “Berber”.
تَاشْلْحِيتْ tashel7it Tashelhit
South: Souss, Anti-Atlas.
تَامَازِيغْتْ tamazight Tamazight
Centre: Middle Atlas.
تَارِيفِيتْ tarifit Tarifit
North: the Rif.
تِيفِينَاغْ tifinagh Tifinagh
The Amazigh alphabet.

Where it shows

الْفْلَاحَة l-fla7a farming
الْأَرْضْ l-ard land
الْكْسِيبَة l-ksiba livestock
الْعْرْسْ l-3ers wedding

Talking about origins

الْأَصْلْ l-asl origin
جَايْ مْنْ jay men comes from
تّْعْرّْبْ tt3erreb to become Arabised
التَّأْثِيرْ t-ta'thir influence
جُوجْ لُغَاتْ juj lughat two languages; bilingual

2

From Amazigh into Darija

Four everyday sentences. Find the Amazigh word in each and see what Arabic it carries.

سْدّْ الشّْرْجْمْ، رَاهْ الْبْرْدْsedd sh-sherjem, rah l-berd
فِينْ حَطِّيتِي السَّارُوتْ؟fin 7ettiti s-sarut?
صِيفْطْ لِيَّا الْمِيسَاجْsifet liyya l-misaj
أَجِي دْغْيَا، رَاهْ تْعَطّْلْنَاaji degya, rah t3ettelna

What has sarut lost compared with tasarut? What article and plural does it take?

The rule

An Amazigh word entering Darija:

1. Drops its frame: the Amazigh feminine t-…-t and the prefix a- fall away. tasarut → sarut, tabrat → brawa, tamengaft → neggafa, asrzm → serjem.

2. Takes the Arabic article and plural: s-sarut, juj swaret; sh-shrajem.

3. Conjugates like Arabic if it's a verb: sifet, kaysifet, msifet.

Amazigh loans cluster around farming, land and animals, which is why city dwellers underestimate them.

Adaptation, step by step

Form	Say it	Means
تَاسَارُوتْ ← سَارُوتْ	tasarut → sarut	key: Amazigh → Darija
تَابْرَاتْ ← بْرَاوَة	tabrat → brawa	letter: Amazigh → Darija
تَامْنْݣَافْتْ ← نْݣَّافَة	tamengaft → neggafa	bride's dresser: Amazigh → Darija
أَسْرْزْمْ ← شْرْجْمْ	asrzm → sherjem	window: Amazigh → Darija
سَارُوتْ ← جُوجْ سْوَارْتْ	sarut → juj swaret	key → two keys
شْرْجْمْ ← شْرَاجْمْ	sherjem → shrajem	window → windows
صِيفْطْ ← كَيْصِيفْطْ ← مْصِيفْطْ	sifet → kaysifet → msifet	sent → sends → sent (adj.)
دْغْيَا! أَجِي دْغْيَا	degya! aji degya	quick! come right away

Rows 5 and 6: broken plurals, as if the words were native Arabic.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: English “window”, “sky”, “egg” are Norse, not Old English, and nobody feels them as foreign. Same with sarut.

Free: the idea of layers: a language absorbs its neighbours' words and makes them its own.

Costly: thinking Amazigh belongs to the past. Over a quarter of Moroccans speak it as a mother tongue, and it's been official since 2011.

Your mistake, not someone else's

Since sarut isn't Arabic, you give it an -at plural. But it's been in Darija for centuries and takes a broken plural.

×جُوجْ سَارُوتَاتْ-at plural.

✓جُوجْ سْوَارْتْ“Two keys”.

Like blasa → blayes (lesson 63).

3

Words of Amazigh origin

A real extract from the Darija Wikipedia article “داريجة”, which cites a study published in Hespress. Only the words whose origin the article documents are included.

طَرْفْ كْبِيرْ مْنْ لْمُوعْجَامْ دْ دّْارِيجَة لِي عَنْدُو عْلَاقَة بْ لْفْلَاحَة، بْ لْرْضْ، بْ لْبْحَرْ ؤُلَا لْحَيَوَانَاتْ لّْي كَيْعِيشُو فِيهُومْ، جَايْ مْنْ لْأَمَازِيغِيَّة.

هَادِي مْنْ بِينْ لْأَسْبَابْ عْلَاشْ نّْاسْ دْ لْمْدُونْ كَيْجِيهُومْ تّْأْتِيرْ دْ لْأَمَازِيغِيَّة قَلّْ مْنْ مَا هُوَّا فْ لْوَاقْعْ، حِيتْ بْزَّافْ دْ هَادْ لْكْلِمَاتْ مَا كَيْتّْسْتَعْمْلُوشْ فْ لْمَجَالْ لْحَضَرِي.

The Amazigh influence

سَارُوتْ: مْنْ تَاسَارُوتْ

سْرْجْمْ ؤُلَا شْرْجْمْ: مْنْ أَسْرْزْمْ

صِيفْطْ: مْنْ يْسّْيفْضْ

بْرِيَّة: مْنْ تَابْرَاتْ

دْغْيَا: مْنْ دْغِي

بْزّْ (دْرَارِي صْغَارْ): مْنْ إِبِيزِّيوْنْ

نْݣَّافَة: مْنْ تَامْنْݣَافْتْ

Seven words and their origin

«داريجة», Wikipedia en darija (ary.wikipedia.org), autores de Wikipedia; la lista cita «التأثير الأمازيغي العميق في اللغة الدارجة: 100 كلمة نموذجا», Hespress, 2017. Extracto; vocalización de Learning Darija · CC BY-SA 4.0

Did you follow?

In which fields are Amazigh words common?
Show answers
Farming, land, the sea and animals.
Why do city people notice the influence less?
Show answers
Many of those words aren't used in cities.
Which Amazigh word does sarut come from?
Show answers
tasarut.
And degya?
Show answers
dghi.

4

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

Amazigh word to Darija form.

1	تَاسَارُوتْ	a	صِيفْطْ
2	أَسْرْزْمْ	b	سَارُوتْ
3	يْسّْيفْضْ	c	دْغْيَا
4	دْغِي	d	شْرْجْمْ
5	تَامْنْݣَافْتْ	e	نْݣَّافَة

2Fill the gap

With the Amazigh loan that fits.

الساروتالشرجمصيفطدغيا

نسيت ___ داخل الدار
حل ___ باش يدخل الضو
___ ليا التصاور عافاك
أجي ___، راه الطاكسي كيتسنى

3True or false?

According to the article.

Much farming vocabulary comes from Amazigh.

The rest is in the B2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B2 book

4Plural and conjugation

Following the clue in brackets.

سَارُوتْ (جُوجْ)

The rest is in the B2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B2 book

5Without knowing it

Describe an ordinary day in six sentences, using words of Amazigh origin.

السَّارُوتْالشّْرْجْمْصِيفْطْدْغْيَاالنّْݣَّافَة

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. Fill the gap	الساروت · الشرجم · صيفط · دغيا

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

Recognise common Amazigh loans.
Explain how they adapt.
Form their plurals and conjugate them.
Name Morocco's Amazigh languages.