zouj زوج
Moroccan Darija · numeral
“zouj” (زوج) is a numeral in Moroccan Darija meaning two.
Meanings
- two
- pair, couple
- husband (formal register)
Usage
In darija, zouj (often pronounced jouj) is the usual form of "two" placed before a noun: zouj drahem, zouj d nnass. The noun that follows is generally plural. When counting without a noun, zouj is also used. It appears in bjouj ("both, together"). The meaning "husband" exists mainly in a formal, administrative or religious register, pronounced zawj. In conversation, people say rajel or rajli ("my husband") instead. Pitfall: the Arabic spelling is the same for "two" and "husband"; only context decides.
Example
عطيتو زوج دراهم
3titou zouj drahem
“I gave him two dirhams.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zouj” but also “zoj”, “zuj”, “zawj” and “zzawj”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zouj” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “two”; “pair, couple”: zouj in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “husband, spouse”; “pair, couple”: zawj in Tunisian.