houwiya هوية
Moroccan Darija · noun
“houwiya” (هوية) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning identity (cultural, personal).
Meanings
- identity (cultural, personal)
- official identity, papers
Usage
Houwiya comes from the written language. In Morocco it is used to talk about cultural, national or personal identity: "l-houwiya l-meghribiya" (Moroccan identity). It is heard mostly in serious discussions, on radio or on television. For the identity card, people more commonly say "la carte" or "lakart nasyonal" than "bita9at l-houwiya". Be careful not to confuse this word with "hiwaya" (hobby), whose spelling is very close. In informal speech, expressions like "chkoun nta" (who you are) are often preferred when talking about oneself.
Example
هادشي جزء من الهوية ديالنا
hadchi jouz2 mn lhouwiya dyalna
“That is part of our identity.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “houwiya” but also “howiya”, “8owia”, “8owya”, “hawiya” and “8owyya”. 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 “houwiya” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “identity (of a person)”; “cultural identity, belonging”: houwiya in Tunisian.