7anout حانوت
Moroccan Darija · noun
“7anout” (حانوت) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning shop, neighborhood grocery.
Meanings
- shop, neighborhood grocery
- store
Usage
L7anout refers first of all to the small neighborhood grocery, where you buy bread, milk or basic goods. It is also used for any small shop. The plural is l7wanet. Moul l7anout, literally "the owner of the shop", is the corner grocer, a familiar figure of daily life. For a large supermarket, people use marchi or a brand name instead. The word is masculine.
Example
كاين حانوت ف هاد جيها
kayen 7anout f had jiha
“There's a shop in this area.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7anout” but also “7anut”, “hanout”, “7anot” and “hanut”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “7anout” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
The same word also exists in Algerian Darja, written الحانوت, where it means “shop, small business”; “neighbourhood grocery”: hanout in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “shop, store”; “commercial premises”: 7anout in Tunisian.