Today’s topic started with me trying to find the definition of to have. The word I ended up finding to meet my needs was 3nd. This word worked perfectly as a straight translation for the verb to have, helping me to describe things that I possess. There is another word in darija that can be used which I did discuss in another post but this word 3nd seemed familiar and interesting to me. It was familiar because I have seen this word in Arabic (عند) which made it easier to use. What was interesting about this word is not only does it have several meanings but depending on what you are trying to say, it could used as a verb or preposition. Having multiple uses shows me that the word is an important word in the darija language and should be analyzed.
Here are the meanings I found:
| to have |
| under |
| with |
| at the place (similar to chez in french) |
| near |
| close to |
| beside |
| at (time) |
| among |
| in the eyes of |
| as far as |
I found two expressions that use the word 3nd:
ash 3ndi fih – what do I care?
mn 3nd – from
3ndak – watch out! be careful (of) !
Examples
3ndak lhmar! – watch out for the donkey
3ndi ktab – I have a book
n9ra 3nd ustad Jamal – I am studying under professor Jamal
huwa 3nd sh-shajra – he is next to the tree
gaymshi l 3nd Tariq had lil – he will go to Tariq’s place tonight
Works Cited
Harrell, Richard S., and Harvey Sobelman. A Dictionary of Moroccan Arabic: Moroccan-English. Washington: Georgetown U, 2006. Print.