3fyoun عفيون
Moroccan Darija · noun
“3fyoun” (عفيون) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning opium, drug made from the poppy.
Meanings
- opium, drug made from the poppy
Usage
The word l-3fyun refers to opium, the drug extracted from the poppy. This is the dialect form of the word: it begins with a 3 (the consonant ʿayn), where the literary form starts with a simple vowel. The term is uncommon in everyday conversation, since opium is not a widespread drug in Morocco. It is mostly encountered when talking about drugs in general, old-style pharmacy, or history. It is almost always used with the article: l-3fyun. Do not confuse it with hashish or kif, which have their own names.
Example
العفيون كيتصاوب من الخشخاش.
l-3fyun kayt9ad mn l-khechkhach.
“Opium is made from the poppy.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3fyoun” but also “3fyun” and “afyoun”. 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.