7anout حانوت
Tunisian Derja · noun
“7anout” (حانوت) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning shop, store.
Meanings
- shop, store
- commercial premises
- corner shop, grocery
Usage
7anout is the usual word for a shop or small neighborhood business: grocery, stall, craftsman's workshop. The plural is "7wenet". It is used with a complement to specify the activity, for example "7anout 7ajjem" (barber's shop) or "7anout makla khfifa" (snack bar). The word also refers to the premises themselves, which one rents or buys. For a large store, "magaza" is used instead, or the name of the chain. The 7 represents the strongly breathed Arabic h consonant.
Example
نهبط للحانوت نشري خبزة
nahbet lel 7anout nechri khobza
“I'm going down to the shop to buy a loaf of bread.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7anout” but also “hanout”, “7anoot”, “hanut”, “7anot” and “7anut”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find حانوت and حنوت, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “7anout” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “shop, neighborhood grocery”; “store”: 7anout in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
The same word also exists in Algerian Darja, written الحانوت, where it means “shop, small business”; “neighbourhood grocery”: hanout in Algerian.