bchwiya بشوية
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“bchwiya” (بشوية) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning slowly, gently.
Meanings
- slowly, gently
- carefully
- little by little (doubled)
Usage
Bchwiya is the common adverb for "slowly" or "gently". It is used to ask someone to speak less fast ("hder bchwiya"), to drive carefully or to handle a fragile object. With 3lik or 3lih, "ghir bchwiya 3lik" is used to calm down an angry person. Doubled, "bchwiya bchwiya" means "little by little". The register is neutral and very frequent. The pitfall for an English speaker is to confuse it with chwiya, without b, which means "a little". "Hder bchwiya" does not mean "speak more quietly": for that, you say rather "hder b chwiya f sout".
Example
عفاك هضر بشوية
3afak 8Der bchwiyya
“Please speak slowly.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bchwiya” but also “bchwia”, “bchwya”, “bchwiyya”, “bshwiya” and “bchwyya”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find بشوية and بالشوية, all the same word.
Type “bchwiya” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “slowly, gently”; “carefully”: bchwiya in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “slowly, gently”; “with a little (of)”: bchwaya in Tunisian.