chafa شافا
Moroccan Darija · verb
“chafa” (شافا) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to heal, cure (someone).
Meanings
- to heal, cure (someone)
- to recover (form tchafa)
Usage
Chafa, present tense ychafi, means "to heal someone" and is used mostly in wishes addressed to a sick person: llah ychafik, "may God heal you", or llah ychafih for a third person. To say "to heal" in the sense of "to recover", the reflexive form tchafa / ytchafa is used: imta ghadi ytchafa?, "when will he recover?". In arabizi, this form is often written as two words (t chaafa), which can be confusing. The corresponding noun is chifa, "recovery, healing".
Example
الله يشافيك أ خويا
llah ychafik a khouya
“May God heal you, my brother.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanchaafi | chaafit | |
| nta (you, m.) | katchaafi | chaafiti | chaafi |
| nti (you, f.) | katchaafi | chaafiti | chaafi |
| howa (he) | kaychaafi | chaafa | |
| hiya (she) | katchaafi | chaafaat | |
| 7na (we) | kanchaafiw | chaafina | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katchaafiw | chaafito | chaafiw |
| homa (they) | kaychaafiw | chaafao |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chafa” but also “chaafa” and “shafa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.