yedwi يدوي
Moroccan Darija · verb
“yedwi” (يدوي) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning he speaks, he would speak.
Meanings
- he speaks, he would speak
- to talk, to confess (under pressure)
- manual (adjective, formal register)
Usage
Ydwi is the third person masculine imperfect form of the verb dwa, "to speak", very common in darija. It appears after auxiliaries and verbs of wanting: bgha ydwi (he wants to speak), ghadi ydwi (he is going to speak), kaydwi (he speaks). You say dwa m3a (to speak with someone) and dwa 3la (to speak about someone). At the police station or in an argument, the verb can mean "to start talking", that is, to confess. Note: the same Arabic spelling also corresponds to the adjective yadawi, "manual" (khedma yadawiya, manual work). This adjective belongs to a formal register close to Standard Arabic. Context always resolves the ambiguity.
Example
واخا يدوي معايا منجوبوش
wakha ydwi m3aya manjawbouch
“Even if he talks to me, I won't answer him.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “yedwi” but also “yadawi”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “yedwi” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “he speaks”; “he chats”: yedwi in Algerian.