Learn Moroccan Arabic Online - SpeakMoroccan.com
Lesson Summary
In this Moroccan Arabic grammar lesson, you will learn how words are rendered definite. You will also discover lunar and solar letters.
Make sure to subscribe.
Love Moroccan Arabic?
Welcome!
Our goal is to help you learn Moroccan Darija, i.e. the Arabic dialect spoken in Morocco. Here you'll find a diversified set of free Moroccan Arabic materials and other resources.
Resources:
Resources ➤

Definite Words in Moroccan Arabic

Author
Houda Ghazali

English has the definite article (the); in standard Arabic we use (al).

Now, in Moroccan Darija -as we drop vowels most of the time- we simply say (L) when the word starts with a (moon letter); and when it starts with a (sun letter), this letter is doubled.

These names of the letters refer to the words sun and moon in Arabic. Moon is (qamar قمر), the moon is (lqamar لقمر). Sun, it’s (shms شمس), and the sun is (sh-shms الشمس).

This rule comes from classical Arabic, to distinguish the pronunciation of (L) from doubled letters while defining a word, according to the following classification of letters:

Sun letters are: t, T, d, D, r, z, s, S, sh, l, n.

Moon letters are the rest of the alphabet.

Examples:

Words with moon letters:

School = Mdrasa مدرسة à The school = lmdrasa لمدرسة.

Door = bâb باب à The door = lbâb لباب.

Building = 3imâra عمارة à The building = l3imâra لعمارة.

Words with sun letters:

Trousers = srwâl سروال à The trousers = ssrwâl السّروال.

House = dâr دار à The house = ddâr الدّار.

PS: There are no indefinite articles in Darija, such as (a) and (an) in English. The word said independently is considered as indefinite.

Exception:

The letter J is a lunar letter in MSA, but it’s a solar one in Moroccan Darija.

Example:

Neighbor = jâr جار à The Neighbor = jjâr الجّار.

****

Exercise:

Give the definite form of the following words:

Shrjm شْرجم (window)

Ktâb كتاب (book)

Wrqa ورقة (paper)

**Râjl **راجل (man)

Qr3a قْرعة (bottle)

NDâDr نْضاضر (glasses)

Brâ برا (letter)

Drhm درهم (Dirham)

Balîza بَليزَة (suitcase)

**T****bsîl **طبسيل (dish)

  • Share this lesson:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Love Moroccan Arabic?
Subscribe:
SpeakMoroccan.com
We'll lead you through a fun journey from knowing nothing about Moroccan Darija to having conversational fluency.Learn Darija here.Make sure to subscribe.
© SpeakMoroccan.com, 2024. Privacy Affiliate Disclaimer Contact
Loading...