7tilal حتلال
Moroccan Darija · noun
“7tilal” (حتلال) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning military occupation.
Meanings
- military occupation
- occupying power
Usage
A noun of Standard Arabic origin, very present in political vocabulary and the news, with the article: l7tilal. It means the occupation of a territory by a foreign army and, by extension, the occupying power itself, as in dd l7tilal (against the occupier). The register is formal, but everyone understands it. It is not used for occupation in the sense of an activity or pastime; for that one says chghol. For the colonial period in Morocco, listi3mar is used more often.
Example
الناس خرجو ضد لحتلال
nnas khrjo dd l7tilal
“People came out to protest against the occupation.”
Forms
| plural | 7tilaalat |
|---|
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7tilal” but also “i7tilal”, “ihtilal” and “7tilaal”. 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.