Lesson 99 · C1
Writing Darija
Darija has no academy. It's written in Arabic letters on signs and in adverts, and in Latin letters with numbers on phones. Everyone solves g, p and the article their own way. Here are the common habits, and how Darija Wikipedia does it.
- Read ݣ, پ and ڤ.
- Recognise phonetic spelling: لمغريب, ؤ, د.
- Switch between spellings.
- Choose a script for the situation.
Twenty-four words
For talking about letters, sounds and norms.
Writing
- كْتَبْ kteb to write
- لْكْتَابَة l-ktaba writing
- حَرْفْ / حْرُوفْ 7erf / 7ruf letter / letters
- لْحْرُوفْ الْعْرْبِيَّة l-7ruf l-3erbiyya the Arabic alphabet
- لْحْرُوفْ اللَّاتِينِيَّة l-7ruf l-latiniyya the Latin alphabet
-
لْأَرْقَامْ
l-arqam
numbers
The Arabizi ones: 3, 7, 9.
The norm
- مِعْيَارْ mi3yar standard, norm
- مْتَّافْقِينْ عْلَى mttafqin 3la agreed on
- طْرِيقَة مُوَحّْدَة triqa muwe77da a single, unified way
- تّْفَاقْ ttifaq agreement
- قَامُوسْ / مُعْجَمْ qamus / mu3jam dictionary
- صَوْتْ / أَصْوَاتْ sawt / aswat sound / sounds
Pronouncing
- نْطَقْ nteq to pronounce
- النُّطْقْ n-nutq pronunciation
- كَيْتّْنْطَقْ kayttenteq it's pronounced
- كَيْتّْكْتَبْ kayttekteb it's written
- لْحْرُوفْ الشَّمْسِيَّة l-7ruf sh-shamsiyya sun letters
-
الشَّدَّة
sh-shedda
shadda
The double-consonant mark.
Where it's written
- الْمِيسَاجَاتْ l-misajat text messages
- الْإِشْهَارَاتْ l-ishharat adverts
- الصُّوشْلْ مِيدْيَا s-soshl midya social media
- كُلّْ وَاحْدْ كِيفْ بْغَا kull wa7ed kif bgha everyone their own way
- لْعْقْلِيَّة l-3eqliyya mindset
- تّْغْيِيرْ ttghyir change
Three habits
Four bits of Darija Wikipedia. Look at how it writes the article and “and”.
- لْحْرُوفْ دْ دَّارِيجَةl-7ruf d d-darija
- لْمْغَارْبَة ؤْ دَّوْرْ دْيَالْهَاl-Mgharba u d-dawr dyalha
- لْحْرُوفْ لْݣْمْرِيَّةl-7ruf l-gmriyya
- كَاتّْكْتَبْ بِيهَا دَّارِيجَةkattekteb biha d-darija
How is “l-” spelt in line 1? Which letter is “and” in line 2? And the g in line 3?
The rule
There's no standard. There are three habits:
1. Extra letters. ݣ (or ڭ, گ) for g, پ for p, ڤ for v.
2. The article. Some write “ال” as in fuṣḥā (المغرب); others write it as heard: “ل” (لمغريب). Before a sun letter it assimilates and takes a shadda: دّاريجة.
3. Short words. f “in”, d “of” and u “and” are ف, د, ؤ, joined or apart.
Arabizi (lesson 83) stays in the chat.
Spellings
| Form | Say it | Means |
|---|---|---|
| ݣ · ڭ · گ | g | letter for g |
| پ | p | letter for p |
| ڤ | v | letter for v |
| الْمَغْرِبْ ← لْمْغْرِيبْ | l-Maghrib (dos grafías) | Morocco: fuṣḥā spelling → phonetic |
| فِي الدَّارْ ← فْالدَّارْ | f d-dar | at home |
| دْيَالْ لْمْغْرِيبْ ← دْ لْمْغْرِيبْ | dyal / d l-Maghrib | of Morocco (long → short) |
| وْ ← ؤْ | u («y») | and |
| كَيْقُولُو ← كَيْݣُولُو | kayqulu / kaygulu | they say (urban q → rural g) |
Both columns are fine. Mixing them in one text isn't.
What English gives you, and what it costs
Free: you know unstandardised writing from Scots or texting: “gonna”, “innit”.
Free: g, p and v are ordinary English sounds; now they have Arabic letters.
Costly: expecting one “correct” spelling. Ask what the medium does: press, Wikipedia, chat.
Your mistake, not someone else's
You write g with ك. Then gal “he said” reads as kal “he ate”.
×كَالْ لِيَّا غَدَّا نْجِي“He ate me: I'll come tomorrow”.
✓ݣَالْ لِيَّا غَدَّا نْجِي“He told me: I'll come tomorrow”.
ق won't do either: in Fes or Casablanca it reads qal, which exists but sounds urban or bookish.
“The letters of Darija”
Two real excerpts from Darija Wikipedia's article on its own alphabet. Watch how it writes: لمغريب, ؤ, لݣمرية.
لْحْرُوفْ دْ دَّارِيجَة هِيَّ لْحْرُوفْ لِّي كَاتّْكْتَبْ بِيهَا دَّارِيجَة، لِّي كَاتْكُونْ عَادَتَنْ هِيَّ نِيتْ لْحْرُوفْ دْ لْعَرْبِيَّة، مْعَا شِي حْرُوفْ زَايْدَة […].
ؤْ شِي مَرَّاتْ لْحْرُوفْ لَّاتِينِيَّة ؤْ لْأَرْقَامْ بْحَالْ فْ شَّاطْ، فْ لْمِيسَاجَاتْ دْ تِيلِيفُونْ ؤْ لْجُومَالْ لْقْصِيرَة ؤْ صُّوشْلْ مِيدْيَا.
حِيتْ دَّارِيجَة مَا عَنْدْهَاشْ مِعْيَارْ دْ لْكْتَابَة لِّي كُولْشِي مْتَّافَقْ عْلِيهْ، مَا كَايْنْشْ تِّيفَاقْ كَامَلْ عْلَى لْحْرُوفْ دْ لْكْتَابَة […].
لْقَافْ مَتَلًا كَيْتّْنْطَقْ غَالِبًا بْحَالْ لْقَافْ لْعَرْبِيَّة، وَلَاكِينْ فْ بَعْضْ لْمَنَاطِقْ كَيْتّْنْطَقْ قَافْ نَاشْفَة […]، ؤْ كَايْنْ اللِّي كَيْنْطْقُو بْحَالْ لْهَمْزَة كِيمَا لْمَصْرِيِّينْ، ؤْ هَادِي لْحَالَة دْيَالْ لْفَّاسَا.
وَلَاكِينْ كَيْتّْكْتَبْ «ق» بْطَارِيقَة مُوَحّْدَة، ؤْ كُولَا وَاحَدْ عَنْدُو لْحَقّْ يْقْرَاهْ كِي بْغَا.
«لحروف د الداريجة», Wikipedia en darija (ary.wikipedia.org), autores de Wikipedia. Fragmentos con cortes marcados […]; se conserva su ortografía y se añade la vocalización · CC BY-SA 4.0
Did you follow?
Where are Latin letters and numbers used?
Show answers
In chat, text messages and social media.
Why is there no agreement on letters?
Show answers
Darija has no written standard everyone accepts.
How is qāf pronounced in Fes?
Show answers
As a hamza, like in Egypt.
What does the text suggest?
Show answers
Always write ق and let everyone read it their way.
Check
Two here, three more in the C1 book.
Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the C1 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.
1Match
Phonetic spelling to fuṣḥā-style spelling.
| 1 | لْمْغْرِيبْ | a | دْيَالْ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | ؤْ | b | الْمَغْرِبْ |
| 3 | دْ | c | فِي الدَّارْ |
| 4 | فْالدَّارْ | d | وْ |
| 5 | كَيْݣُولُو | e | كَيْقُولُو |
2Fill in
Add the missing letter.
ݣپڤؤ
- ___ال ليا غدا نجي
- ل___وليس جاو
- تفرجت فالتيلي___يزيون
- لمغاربة ___ لمصريين
3True or false?
According to the text and the lesson.
- Darija has no written standard everyone accepts.
4Go phonetic
Write it the Darija Wikipedia way.
- الْمَغْرِبْ
5Your way
In six sentences of Darija, explain how you write Darija and why.
كَنْكْتَبْلْحْرُوفْمِعْيَارْالْمِيسَاجَاتْكُلّْ وَاحْدْ
The rest is in the C1 book
The C1 bookShow answers
| 1. Match | 1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c, 5-e |
|---|---|
| 2. Fill in | ݣ · پ · ڤ · ؤ |
The C1 book: In preparation
Write and I will tell you the day it is out. One email, no list.
I can now
- Read ݣ, پ, ڤ.
- Recognise لمغريب, ؤ, د.
- Switch spellings.
- Tell gal from kal in writing.