insan إنسان
Moroccan Darija · noun
“insan” (إنسان) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning human being, person.
Meanings
- human being, person
- decent person, good human
Usage
Insan is a common word in darija. It refers to a person, often with a moral judgment: "nta insan mzyan" (you are a good person). The plural is nnas, "people". People also say "l-insan" to speak of the human being in general, for example "l-insan kay ghlet" (man makes mistakes). Used on its own, insan can mean someone good and humane: "hada insan" (he is a man with a heart). In everyday speech, to say simply "someone", people prefer wa7ed or chi wa7ed.
Example
نتا إنسان مزيان
nta insan mezyan
“You are a good person.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “insan” but also “ensan”, “inssan” and “2insan”. 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.
Type “insan” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “human being, person”; “decent, worthy person”: insen in Tunisian.