hajj حج
Moroccan Darija · noun
“hajj” (حج) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning pilgrimage to Mecca.
Meanings
- pilgrimage to Mecca
- (written shorthand) thing, stuff
Usage
The word hajj refers to the great pilgrimage to Mecca. It is mostly used with the article: mcha l-hajj (he went on the pilgrimage), rje3 men l-hajj (he came back from the pilgrimage). The corresponding verb is hejj, "to make the pilgrimage". Not to be confused with l-hajj used alone to refer to a man who has completed the pilgrimage, nor with the 3omra, the lesser pilgrimage. Pitfall in writing: online, "hj" is also used as an abbreviation of haja ("thing"), as in chi hj ("something"). In that case, it is not the same word.
Example
خويا مشا للحج هاد العام
khouya mcha l l7ajj had l3am
“My brother went on the pilgrimage this year.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hajj” but also “7ajj”, “hej” and “hj”. 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.
Type “hajj” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “pilgrimage to Mecca”: hadj in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “pilgrimage to Mecca”; “title for a pilgrim or elderly man”: 7aj in Tunisian.