3amal عمل
Moroccan Darija · noun
“3amal” (عمل) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning work, collective effort.
Meanings
- work, collective effort
- action, deed
Usage
3amal comes from Standard Arabic and is used mostly in set expressions: 3amal jama3i (teamwork), 3amal khayri (charity work), 3amal tatawwu3i (volunteering). To talk about one's job in daily life, you say khedma, which is much more natural: fin khddam? or 3endi lkhedma. 3amal therefore keeps a somewhat formal flavor, common in the media, associations and school settings. A learner should avoid saying 3amal for their everyday job, as it would sound bookish.
Example
هادا عمل جماعي
hada 3amal jama3i
“This is teamwork.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3amal” but also “3amel” and “amal”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “3amal” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to do, perform an action”; “to make, prepare”: 3mal in Tunisian.