3chwa2i عشوائي
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“3chwa2i” (عشوائي) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning unregulated, haphazard.
Meanings
- unregulated, haphazard
- random, at random
Usage
3chwa2i comes from Standard Arabic and is used in a more careful register, notably in the media and in discussions about the city. The most common use concerns housing: lbni l3chwa2i means illegal or unregulated construction, and the adjective describes anything done without order or plan. The forms are 3chwa2iya in the feminine and 3chwa2iyin in the plural. For "at random" in everyday conversation, people often prefer b lmzyan or bla tartib.
Example
راه عشوائي هاد البني
rah 3echwa2i had lbni
“This construction is haphazard.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3chwa2i” but also “3achwa2i”, “3echwa2i”, “3chwai” and “achwa2i”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop; 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.