moul lhout مول الحوت
Moroccan Darija · expression
“moul lhout” (مول الحوت) is an expression in Moroccan Darija meaning fishmonger, fish seller.
Meanings
- fishmonger, fish seller
Usage
Moul lhout literally means "the one of the fish". It refers to the fish seller, whether he has a stall at the market or sells from a cart in the neighborhood. This construction with moul is very productive in darija for naming a trade or a merchant by what he sells: moul lkhodra (the vegetable seller), moul l7anout (the grocer). The feminine is moulat, and the plural is mwalin: mwalin lhout. The register is common and neutral. Note that moul does not mean "owner" here, but "the one who deals with".
Example
شريت السردين من عند مول الحوت
chrit sserdin men 3end moul lhout
“I bought sardines from the fishmonger.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “moul lhout” but also “mol lhout”, “moul l7out” and “moul elhout”. 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.