gharb غرب
Moroccan Darija · noun
“gharb” (غرب) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning west, the Occident.
Meanings
- west, the Occident
- the Gharb (region of Morocco)
Usage
Gharb refers to the cardinal point west, usually with the article: lgharb. It is used for orientation (f jiht lgharb, "on the west side") and to talk about the Western world. With the article, lgharb also refers to the Gharb plain, an agricultural region in north-western Morocco; only the context tells which is meant. It should be distinguished from lmaghrib, which means Morocco itself or the sunset prayer, and from ghorba or gherba, "exile, being far from one's country". The corresponding adjective is gharbi.
Example
الشمس كتغرب من جهة الغرب
chems katghrob men jiht lgharb
“The sun sets in the west.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “gharb” but also “gherb” and “ghrb”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “gharb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “west (cardinal direction)”; “western Algeria”: gharb in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “west”; “the Western countries”: gharb in Tunisian.