i7timal احتمال
Moroccan Darija · noun
“i7timal” (احتمال) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning probability, possibility.
Meanings
- probability, possibility
- maybe, it may be that
Usage
I7timal means a probability or a possibility. It is very common, even in casual conversation. It is often used at the start of a sentence to mean "it may be that": "i7timal yji ghedda" (he may come tomorrow). One also says "kayn i7timal" (there is a chance) or "ma kayn ta i7timal" (no chance at all). The plural is i7timalat (possibilities, hypotheses). In this adverbial use, the word is equivalent to "maybe", a sense that the noun "probability" does not convey.
Example
احتمال يلقاو حوتام في المريخ فيعلان صغير
i7timal yl9aw 7oTam f lmarikh fi3lan sghir
“The probability that they find ruins on Mars is indeed low.”
Forms
| plural | 7timalat |
|---|
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “i7timal” but also “7timal”, “ihtimal”, “2i7timal” and “e7timal”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop; 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “i7timal” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “possibility, eventuality”; “hypothesis, option”: i7timal in Tunisian.