ryye7 ريّح

Moroccan Darija · verb

“ryye7” (ريّح) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to sit down, take a seat.

Meanings

1. to sit down, take a seat
2. to rest, relax
3. to relieve, soothe someone

Usage

Rayyeḥ is mostly used as a polite invitation to sit down: "rayyeḥ, rayyḥi" (sit down), said to a guest. The verb also means to rest, as in "bghit nrayyeḥ chwiya". With an object, it means to relieve: "rayyḥni", you've put my mind at ease. It also appears in "rayyeḥ rasek", relax or don't worry. "Rayyeḥ l2erd" is a blunter invitation to sit on the floor or to calm down. Common pitfall: without the doubled consonant, the same spelling reads riḥ, the wind, as in "kayn riḥ". In arabizi, the two words are often written the same way.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ryye7” but also “riye7”, “rayye7”, “ry7”, “ri7” and “ryy7”. 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 “ryye7” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “wind”; “air (tyre, engine)”: rih in Algerian.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “wind”; “draught (fajj ri7)”: ri7 in Tunisian.