Hello,
I’ve found transliterations of Darija that use a ‘ch’. For example - place names such as Chefchaouen, and phrases like ‘chno li’ (what do you have). However, in the Moroccan Arabic alphabet, I don’t see a letter that sounds like an English ‘ch’. There are ‘sh’ sounds (as in shukran) and ‘kh’ sounds (as in khamsa).
Can anybody tell me the correct way to pronounce ‘ch’ transliterations - as in the terms I listed above?
Thanks very much!
PS - If you can also tell me how to say “I don’t eat a lot” in Darija, I’d appreciate it!!
Hey, you’re in the Darija forum, we have answers for all your questions :).
The ch you found is simply sh, and it’s not a “tsh” sound like in “chair”. The thing is that Moroccans speak French as a first foreign language, and sh is spelt in French as ch. Hence, when transliterating, Moroccans automatically use ch, like in inchallah. Moroccans would find it strange to spelling ch as sh.
You’ll see many Algerians and Tunisians write shukran as choukran.
Now for your translation request:
I don’t eat a lot = Ma kanakolsh bzzaf.
I eat a lot = kanakol bzzaf.
So you can notice how the negation is constructed.
