Darija is the Moroccan dialect of Arabic. It's a combination of standard Arabic, French, Spanish, and some random English borrowings ("nta printk" - you print). Most other Arabic speakers can't understand Moroccans when they speak Darija, but most Moroccans can understand other Arabic speakers.
Shwiya bshwiya (little by little), I have been learning this spoken language in my highly interactive classroom, the local market (pictured above). I have found that the words and phrases that 'stick' fall into one of four categories: extremely useful, humorous associations, untranslatable, or just plain fun to say.
Extremely Useful
skut = shut up
ana mzuwja = I'm married
shuma halik = shame on you
insha'ala = God willing, or "yeah, I don't really want to do that, so I'll blame it on God if it doesn't get done.
Humorous Associations
matar = airplane, but "to kill" in Spanish (isn't it ironic?)
lice = actually French, but means highshcool. It comes from the Latin root "lycos", meaning "a gathering of dogs". I couldn't agree more.
baraka = same consonant as found in my first name (brk) and meaning "gift from god". Coincidence? I think not.
yo mama = dove
Untranslatable
tybtili tqlbi = you're baking my heart, not to be confused with you're breaking my heart.
Rbit ele kbda = You say this when you really love someone and you can't live without them. Direct translation = My liver is for you.
atak'ala mra xaiba = May God make your wife ugly
Fun to say
meshi mushkil = no problem!
yyyyella = Let's go!
xox = peach (the phoneme /x/ is a glotteral stop, or in non-linguistic terms, like hocking a loogie)
As I continue to learn this language, my conversations become richer. However, with this small lesson, I can successfully offend someone, discuss love and marriage, and get from the airport to the school on a dove, eating a peach with no problems.
