The names used for the days of the week, in Moroccan Arabic, and the numbers used for counting in both Standard Arabic and Moroccan Arabic are similar. This is because words for some days of the week are the same words or similar (derivatives) as the ones used for counting. We will clarify this point with some examples.
When counting in Standard Arabic. The following words are used for counting:
one - wahed
two - etneen
three - thlata
four - areb'a
five - khamsa
six - seta
seven - sb'a
Here are the names for the days of the week in Moroccan Darija:
Sunday lhad
Monday etneen
Tuesday - tlat
Wednesday - larbe'
Thursday - lekhmis
Friday - jem'a
Saturday sebt
Note, the similarities between the words for some of the names of the days of the week and the numbers used for counting. Sunday is regarded as day 1. Monday is regarded as day 2 and the word for 2 is 'etneen' while the word for Monday is also 'etneen.' The word for the number 3 is 'tlata' while the word for Tuesday is 'tlat' which is similar to 'tlata.' There are days of the week which bear no similarity to the numbers used for counting.
It should be noted that the word "youm" is sometimes used in front of the day of week. The word 'youm' means "day." Here are a few examples:
youm lhad
youm etneen
youm larbe
The days of the week, used in Moroccan Arabic, bear similarity to the numbers used for counting in Standard Arabic. Likewise, the numbers used for counting in Moroccan Arabic also bear similarity to the words used for the days of the week. The exceptions are the words "juj" which means 2 and the word "khamsa" which means 5. The words for day 2 (Monday) and day 5 (Friday) have no similarity to the words "juj" or "khamsa." The numbers used for counting in Moroccan Arabic are listed below:
one - wahed
two - juj
three - tlata
four - reb'a
five - khamsa
six - sta
seven - sb'a
The names for the days of the week and the numbers for counting in Standard Arabic and in Moroccan Arabic are similar. This is because some of the days of the week use the same words or are derivatives of the words that are used when counting.
Learn how to speak Moroccan Arabic at: http://www.moroccanlanguage.com
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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