Darija ProHow do you write darija when there is no official spelling?
Write it the way you hear it. Darija has no official spelling in Latin letters. Wach, wash, wesh and ouach are four ways of writing واش, the particle that opens a question. Nobody will correct you, and a good dictionary must recognise all of them. This guide gives the most common conventions so your family reads you without effort.
Three scripts for one language
Darija is read in Arabic letters (واش), in Latin letters (wach) and in arabizi, the mix of Latin letters and digits (3afak, 7lib). All three live in the same family chat. The first belongs to books and some ads. The other two belong to messages.
None of them is the right one. The useful question is: which one does the person in front of you read fastest?
The sounds that vary from person to person
The sh sound is written ch, the French way, or sh, the English way: wach or wash. The French ou often becomes w: ouach or wach. The e and the a trade places with the accent, and wesh is the version you hear a lot in the diaspora in France.
Digits replace Arabic letters: 3 for ع, 7 for ح, 9 for ق. Some write kh, others 5, for خ. Our guide on arabizi digits covers each case.
An example: the same question in five spellings
wach nta labas? wash nta labas? wesh nta labas? ouach nta labas? واش نتا لاباس? Five spellings, one meaning: are you well, to a man. In the app, all five open the same entry, and the play disc lets you hear it.
How to write so people understand you
Use the spelling of the person you write to. If your mother writes wach with a ch, write wach. Keep the digits 3, 7 and 9: they avoid mixing up 7lib, milk, with a word in ordinary h. And don't fear mistakes. Written darija is a language of messages, not of dictation.
When you don't know how to write it, write it in English
Translate takes your English sentence and gives you the darija one, in Latin and Arabic letters, with the version for a man or for a woman. You copy the version you like into your message. And if a word in the result surprises you, the note under the card explains why we chose it.
Questions about this guide
Do I have to write darija with digits?
No, but it is more precise. Without digits, 3afak becomes afak and 7lib becomes hlib: readable, but less faithful to the sound.
Is wesh darija?
Wesh is the pronunciation of wach often heard in the diaspora, especially in France. It is the same word, واش, and the app recognises it.