ch8er wahd شهر واحد
Moroccan Darija · noun
“ch8er wahd” (شهر واحد) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning January.
Meanings
- January
- one month (duration)
Usage
Chher wahd, literally "month one", refers to January in the usual Moroccan month numbering. You say "f chher wahd" (in January). The main pitfall is ambiguity: the same words can also mean "just one month" as a duration, for example "bqit chher wahd" (I stayed just one month). Context, notably the presence of "f" (in) or a day before it, settles the question. To remove any doubt, people sometimes use "yanayr" or "janvier".
Example
تزاد ف شهر واحد
tzad f chher wahd
“He was born in January.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ch8er wahd” but also “ch8er wa7d”, “ch8ar wahd” and “ch8r wa7d”. 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; 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.