9ahwaji قهواجي
Algerian Darja · noun
“9ahwaji” (قهواجي) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning café waiter.
Meanings
- café waiter
- café owner
Usage
Qahwaji refers to the man who serves in a traditional café, often behind the counter. The word also applies to the café's proprietor. It is formed from qahwa (coffee) with the suffix -ji, which is used to form occupational nouns. He is called out to informally when ordering: "ya qahwaji, jib zouj qhawi!" ("two coffees!"). The word evokes the neighbourhood café, a place of sociability that is mostly male. The Frenchified spelling kahwadji is common.
Example
القهواجي جاب لينا جوج قهاوي
el 9ahwaji jab lina zouj 9hawi
“The café waiter brought us two coffees.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9ahwaji” but also “qahwaji”, “kahwadji”, “9ahwadji” and “gahwaji”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.