gnaza جنازة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“gnaza” (جنازة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning funeral, burial.
Meanings
- funeral, burial
- gloomy atmosphere (figurative)
Usage
In Morocco it is most often pronounced gnaza, with a hard g. The form janaza, closer to Standard Arabic, is also heard. The word refers to the funeral ceremony and to the procession that takes the deceased to the cemetery. One says mcha l-gnaza for "to attend the funeral" and ṣalla 3la l-gnaza for the funeral prayer. Figuratively, it is often contrasted with 3ers, "wedding celebration", to mock a sad or overly serious atmosphere: "it's a funeral, not a party".
Example
هادي راه جنازة ماشي عرس
hadi rah gnaza machi 3ers
“This is a funeral, not a wedding.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “gnaza” but also “janaza”, “jnaza” and “ganaza”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “gnaza” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “funeral, burial”; “funeral procession”: jneza in Tunisian.