7ayawan حيوان
Moroccan Darija · noun
“7ayawan” (حيوان) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning animal.
Meanings
- animal
- brute, boorish person (pejorative)
Usage
7ayawan is the general term for an animal, domestic or wild. It is in common use and comes from common Arabic. The plural is 7ayawanat. For a pet, people often say mrebbi chi 7ayawan (do you keep an animal?). For livestock, bhayem or lksiba are preferred. Addressed to a person, a l7ayawan is an insult meaning "you brute". This use is best avoided, as it is clearly offensive.
Example
الفار حيوان صغير
lfar 7ayawan Sghir
“The mouse is a small animal.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7ayawan” but also “hayawan”, “7aywan” and “7ayawane”. 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 “7ayawan” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “animal, beast”; “brute, idiot (insult)”: 7ayawan in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “animal, beast”; “brute, idiot (pejorative)”: 7ayawen in Tunisian.