mol7anout مولحانوت
Moroccan Darija · noun
“mol7anout” (مولحانوت) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning neighbourhood grocer.
Meanings
- neighbourhood grocer
- shopkeeper, storekeeper
Usage
Mol l7anout is the most common term for the neighbourhood grocer. The 7anout is the small corner shop, open late, where you buy bread, milk, oil or phone top-ups in small quantities. It is often possible to buy on credit there, noted in a notebook. The meaning can broaden to any merchant who runs a shop, but used alone, it almost always means the grocer. He is familiarly called "ṣṣwiṣi", a nickname referring to the Souss origin of many grocers. The plural is mwalin l7wanet.
Example
مول لحانوت كيعطيني بالكريدي حتى لآخر الشهر.
mol l7anout kay3tini bl kridi 7ta l akhir chhar.
“The grocer gives me credit until the end of the month.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mol7anout” but also “moll7anout”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.