khtib خطيب
Moroccan Darija · noun
“khtib” (خطيب) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning fiancé.
Meanings
- fiancé
- Friday sermon preacher
Usage
In conversation, khTib mostly means the fiancé, that is, the man who has proposed and whose engagement is recognized by the families. The feminine is khTiba. It is most often used with a possessive: khTibi, "my fiancé," khTibha, "her fiancé." In a religious context, the same word refers to the person who delivers the khotba, the Friday sermon at the mosque. Context is usually enough to tell the two meanings apart. For a boyfriend with no official commitment, khTib is not used: one says sa7bi or another colloquial term instead.
Example
خطيبها جا يتعرف على الواليدين
khtibha ja yt3arraf 3la lwalidin
“Her fiancé came to meet her parents.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khtib” but also “5tib”, “khatib”, “5atib” and “khteb”. 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 “khtib” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “fiancé”; “orator, preacher”: 5atib in Tunisian.