khoukha خوخة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“khoukha” (خوخة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning a peach (single fruit).
Meanings
- a peach (single fruit)
Usage
Khoukha is the singular unit noun derived from khoukh (peaches, collective): it refers to a single fruit. It is used when counting or when talking about one particular fruit: "kla khoukha" (he ate a peach), "jouj khoukhat" (two peaches). The plural after a number is khoukhat, whereas for an indefinite quantity you go back to the collective lkhoukh. This collective/unit pattern is common for fruits and vegetables in darija and can puzzle an English speaker, who has only one word for both uses.
Example
عطيني واحد الخوخة
3tini wa7d lkhoukha
“Give me a peach.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khoukha” but also “5ou5a”, “khokha”, “5o5a” and “khoukhaa”. 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 “khoukha” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “peach (fruit)”; “affectionate female nickname”: khoukha in Algerian.