lowwen لوّن
Moroccan Darija · verb
“lowwen” (لوّن) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to color, add color.
Meanings
- to color, add color
- to dye, to paint
Usage
The verb lowwen means to color or to give color to something: a drawing, a wall, hair. It is formed from the very common noun loun (color), for example in achmen loun? (what color?). In the imperfective, you say kaylowwen (he colors). The participle mlowwen means colored or multicolored. Be careful not to confuse the two forms: loun, pronounced with a long vowel, is the noun, whereas lowwen, with a doubled w, is the verb. The word is used in all registers.
Example
لوّن هاد الرسمة بالقلم الأحمر
lowwen had rrasma b lqlam l7mer
“Color this drawing with the red pencil.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanlowwen | lowwent | |
| nta (you, m.) | katlowwen | lowwenti | lowwen |
| nti (you, f.) | katlowwni | lowwenti | lowwni |
| howa (he) | kaylowwen | lowwen | |
| hiya (she) | katlowwen | lowwenat | |
| 7na (we) | kanlowwno | lowwenna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katlowwno | lowwento | lowwno |
| homa (they) | kaylowwno | lowweno |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lowwen” but also “lawwen”, “lowen”, “luwwen”, “loun” and “lawn”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “lowwen” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to color, to add color”; “to paint”: lawwen in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “color”; “complexion (of the face)”: loun in Tunisian.