Possessive Determiners in Moroccan Arabic

Possessive determiners:

They are expressed by the word dyâl ديال, to which we add the endings previously mentioned:

English	Darija in Transcription	Darija in the Arabic Script
Mine	Dyâlî	دْيالي
Yours (s.)	Dyâlk	دْيالك
His	Dyâlô	دْيالو
Hers	Dyâlhâ	دْيالها
Ours	Dyâlna	دْيالنا
Yours (p.)	Dyâlkom	دْيالكم
Theirs	Dyâlhom	دْيالهم

It’s more common actually to say instead of ktâbi كتابي (my book), lktâb dyâlî لكتاب ديالي (the book of mine):

English	Darija in Transcription	Darija in the Arabic Script
My book	Lktâb dyâlî	لكتاب ديالي
Your book (s.)	Lktâb dyâlk	لكتاب دْيالك
His book	Lktâb dyâlô	لكتاب دْيالو
Her book	Lktâb dyâlhâ	لكتاب دْيالها
Our book	Lktâb dyâlnâ	لكتاب دْيالنا
Your book (p.)	Lktâb dyâlkom	لكتاب دْيالكم
Their book	Lktâb dyâlhom	لكتاب دْيالهم

Also, the possessive determiner (dyâl ديال) is used for asking questions about possession.

Example:

– Whose book is this? = Dyâl mn hâd lktâb? ديال من هاد لكتاب؟

– It’s Fatima’s. = Dyâl Fatima. ديال فاطمة

PS:

In some regions, dyâl ديال is replaced by: (tâ3 تاع), (ntâ3 نتاع or (mtâ3 متاع), depending on the accent of the speakers.

When do we use plain possessive endings, and when do we use dyâl?

Mainly, dyâl is used to express the possession of things. You rather say lktâb dyâlî (my book) than ktâbî. Possesive endings are used with family members for example, you rather say khtî (my sister), than l2okht dyâlî.

But the use of any of the two ways is correct either way.

Exercise:

Express possession of these things, for all pronouns:

– Dâr دار = house.

– 7wayj حوايج = clothes.

– Bît بيت = room.

– Khâla خالة = aunt (mother’s sister)

– 3mma عمة = aunt (father’s sister)

– Kâs كاس = glass.

– Bnt بنت = daughter

– Dftar دفتر = Copy book

– Qamîja قميجة = Shirt.

– Tbla طبلة = Table.