3ayyen عيّن

Moroccan Darija · verb

“3ayyen” (عيّن) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to appoint, assign to a post.

Meanings

1. to appoint, assign to a post
2. to designate, set

Usage

3ayyen means to appoint someone to a post or assign them to a workplace. It is used mainly in administration, teaching and the civil service. The passive form t3ayyen is very common: "t3ayyent f Agadir" means "I was assigned to Agadir". The corresponding noun, t3yin, means the assignment, and waiting for one is a common concern of young civil servants. Do not confuse this verb with 3in, "eye", which is spelled the same without the shadda. That word gives expressions such as "l3in" (the evil eye) or "bnes 3in" (with a half-open eye).

Example

Conjugation

Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3ayyen” but also “3yyen”, “3iyyen”, “3eyyen”, “3in” and “3ayn”. 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 “3ayyen” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “eye”; “spring, water source”: 3in in Algerian.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “eye”; “water spring”: 3in in Tunisian.