hawi هاوي
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“hawi” (هاوي) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning amateur (non-professional).
Meanings
- amateur (non-professional)
- enthusiast of something
Usage
Hawi describes someone who does an activity out of enjoyment rather than as a profession. It is heard a lot in sport, about amateur clubs and leagues (l-qism l-hawi), as well as in music or photography. It can also mean "enthusiast": hawi dyal l-hout, "a fishing enthusiast". The feminine is hawya and the plural is hawyin. Pitfall: do not confuse it with khawi ("empty") or with hawli ("sheep"), two words that sound close in speech and are often transcribed wrongly.
Example
هو كيلعب فواحد الفريق هاوي
howa kayl3eb f wa7d lfari9 hawi
“He plays for an amateur team.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hawi” but also “8awi”, “8aawi” and “haawi”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.
Type “hawi” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “amateur, non-professional”; “fan, enthusiast”: hawi in Tunisian.