sbanyol سبنيول
Moroccan Darija · noun
“sbanyol” (سبنيول) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning the Spaniards.
Meanings
- the Spaniards
- Spain (colloquial)
Usage
Sbanyol is a plural collective meaning the Spaniards. It is most often used with the article: s-sbanyol, "the Spaniards". In the singular, say sbanyoli (masculine) and sbanyoliya (feminine), forms that also work as the adjective "Spanish". In colloquial speech, especially in the North, the word can also mean Spain itself, in the sense of the country across the water. For the name of the country, the usual form remains sbanya. Pitfall for an English speaker: do not take sbanyol for a singular. To speak of a single Spaniard, say sbanyoli.
Example
السبنيول كيجيو بزاف لطنجة فالصيف.
sbanyol kayjiw bzaf l tanja f sif.
“Spaniards come to Tangier a lot in summer.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sbanyol” but also “sbanyoul”, “spanyol”, “sbaniol” and “sbnyol”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.