khwal خوال
Moroccan Darija · noun
“khwal” (خوال) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning maternal uncles.
Meanings
- maternal uncles
- mother's side of the family
Usage
Khwal is the plural of khal, the uncle on the mother's side, that is, the mother's brothers. Moroccan Arabic carefully distinguishes maternal uncles (khwal) from paternal uncles (3mam), where English has only one word. By extension, khwal can refer to the whole maternal family: "mchit 3nd khwali" (I went to my maternal family's place). For the maternal aunt, you say khala, plural khalat. An English speaker must therefore specify which side of the family they mean.
Example
عندي ثلاثة د الخوال ساكنين فالدار البيضا
3ndi tlata d lkhwal saknin f dar lbida
“I have three maternal uncles who live in Casablanca.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khwal” but also “5wal”, “khoual”, “khwali” and “5oual”. 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.