ihtimam إهتمام
Moroccan Darija · noun
“ihtimam” (إهتمام) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning interest (in something).
Meanings
- interest (in something)
- concern or care shown to someone
Usage
Ihtimam is a word from Standard Arabic, but it is well integrated into darija, especially among educated people and in the media. One says 3ndi ihtimam b... ("I'm interested in...") or ma 3ndich ihtimam b... to express a lack of interest. The complement is built with the preposition b-. In everyday conversation, a verbal construction like kayhemmni ("it interests me") or ma kayhemmnich is often preferred. The word is more natural in a somewhat formal register than in a very casual conversation.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ihtimam” but also “ihtimame”, “i8timam” and “htimam”. 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.