rou7 روح
Moroccan Darija · noun
“rou7” (روح) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning soul, spirit.
Meanings
- soul, spirit
- life, vital breath
- person, living being
Usage
Rou7 means the soul, in the religious sense as well as the figurative one: "rou7 ta3awouniya", "spirit of cooperation". It also means life itself, for example in "tle3 lih rou7", "he gave up the ghost" or "he's at the end of his rope". The affectionate address "a rou7i" means "my soul, my dear". The word is mostly feminine. Pitfall to avoid: in Morocco, rou7 is not the imperative "go!", which is "sir". For the reflexive pronoun "oneself", Darija uses "rasu", not rou7.
Example
عندهم روح تعاوني
3ndhoum ro7 ta3awouni
“They have a spirit of cooperation.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rou7” but also “ro7”, “rouh”, “roh” and “ru7”. 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.
Type “rou7” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “soul, spirit”; “oneself (reflexive: rouhi, rouhek)”: rouh in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “soul, spirit”; “oneself (with possessive suffix)”: rou7 in Tunisian.