khoukh خوخ
Moroccan Darija · noun
“khoukh” (خوخ) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning peaches (the fruit, collective).
Meanings
- peaches (the fruit, collective)
- peach tree
Usage
In Morocco, khoukh means the peach, the fruit. It is a collective noun: you say "lkhoukh" to talk about peaches in general or a quantity bought at the market ("chrit kilo dyal lkhoukh"). For a single fruit, the unit noun khoukha is used, with the plural khoukhat after a number. The word can also refer to the tree itself. A pitfall: in some Mashriqi dialects, the same word means the plum. In Morocco it really is the peach, and the plum is called something else (l3ouina, berqouq depending on the region).
Example
شريت كيلو ديال الخوخ من السوق
chrit kilo dyal lkhoukh mn souq
“I bought a kilo of peaches at the market.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khoukh” but also “5ou5”, “khokh”, “5o5” and “khoukhe”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khoukh” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “peach (fruit)”; “peach tree”: khoukh in Tunisian.