Reading Darija in Latin letters: the Arabizi system explained

Open WhatsApp in Morocco and you'll see messages like kifash dayer? 3afak jaweb 7it 3andi so2al. It looks like a password leak. It's actually Darija, written in the Latin alphabet with a handful of numbers standing in for Arabic sounds that don't exist in French or English. The system is called Arabizi (or Arabish, or chat alphabet), and it's how almost every Moroccan under 50 types in their own language.

If you're learning Darija, you have to read it. The vast majority of online Darija — texts, comments, memes, song lyrics — is written this way, not in Arabic script. This guide breaks down every number, every convention, and the small variations you'll see between people.

Why Arabizi exists

Three things made Arabizi happen: early phones didn't support Arabic keyboards, Moroccans grew up writing French and English on those keyboards, and Darija has sounds (ع, ح, خ, ص, ط, ق...) that no Latin letter represents cleanly. So users invented a workaround: pick the digit that visually resembles the Arabic letter, and use it as that letter.

Arabic keyboards now exist everywhere, but Arabizi stuck. It's faster to type, mixes well with French and English (which Moroccans code-switch into constantly), and feels native to anyone under 40. Even when typing on an Arabic keyboard is available, people still default to Arabizi.

The number-to-sound table

Six numbers carry the whole load. Memorize this and 90% of Arabizi becomes readable:

• 3 = ع (ʿayn) — the throat-squeezed sound. Example: 3afak (please), m3a (with)
• 7 = ح (ḥaa) — the breathy H from the throat. Example: 7obb (love), 7lib (milk)
• 5 or kh = خ (kha) — the Scottish-"loch" scrape. Example: khoya or 5oya (my brother)
• 9 or q = ق (qaf) — the deep-throat K. Example: 9hwa or qhwa (coffee)
• 3' or gh = غ (ghayn) — the French R sound. Example: ghadi or 3'adi (going to)
• 2 = ء (hamza) — the glottal stop. Example: so2al (question), m2akhar (late)

The visual logic: 3 mirrors ع, 7 mirrors ح, 5 mirrors خ, 9 mirrors ق, 2 mirrors the hamza shape. It looks cryptic only until you've seen it five times.

Capital letters carry meaning too

A capital letter in the middle of a word usually signals an emphatic (thick) consonant. So:

• S = ص (the emphatic S) — Sba7 (morning), not sba7
• D = ض or sometimes ظ — Dlam (darkness)
• T = ط — Tarîq (road)
• DH or Z = ظ — DHohr (noon)

Most people are loose with capitals — you'll see sba7 lkhir just as often as Sba7 lkhir. The meaning is the same either way; the capital just helps a learner know which S to actually produce.

Vowels: long, short, and missing

Arabizi uses Latin vowels (a, e, i, o, u) more or less the way French does, with three quirks:

• Long vowels are sometimes doubled — kaan (he was) is longer than kan, but you'll see both spellings
• The schwa (the "uh" sound) is often dropped entirely — kteb (he wrote) has no real vowel, just micro-pauses between consonants
• Final -a often spells out the feminine ending ة — kebira (big, feminine)

Don't expect spelling consistency. The same word can show up four ways in the same group chat. khoya, 5oya, khouya, 5ouya — all "my brother." Pick a style you like and stay readable.

A real WhatsApp message, decoded

Here's a message a Moroccan friend might send you:

salam khouya, kifash dayer? 3afak ila kan 3andek wa9t had l'soir n9dro nshofo m3a ba3diyatna f la cafe l9dima 7da darna, bghit nhder m3ak 3la chi 7aja mohima

Translation: "Hi brother, how are you? Please, if you have time this evening, we can meet at the old café next to my house — I'd like to talk to you about something important."

Notice the casual French mixed in (la cafe, le soir) and the way Arabizi sits between French and English without picking a side. That's normal — Moroccan messaging is trilingual in a single sentence.

Arabizi vs Arabic script — when to use which

Both systems coexist. Use Arabic script when:

• You're texting older relatives who learned to type Arabic before Latin keyboards became normal
• You're posting religious content (Quran quotes, eid greetings) — Arabic script feels more respectful
• You're writing something formal: a CV, a contract, official communication

Use Arabizi when:

• You're chatting with friends, on social media, in group chats
• You're code-switching with French or English mid-sentence
• You're under 40 and the receiver is too

Common stumbling blocks for learners

The 3 vs the 3'. A bare 3 is ع. With an apostrophe (3'), it's غ. People drop the apostrophe constantly, so context matters — 3andek is "you have," ghadi (or 3'adi) is "going to." If a 3 doesn't make sense, try reading it as غ.

The 9 vs the q. Same sound, two spellings. 9hwa and qhwa are both "coffee." Younger writers prefer 9, older or French-leaning writers prefer q. Read both as the same throat-K.

Mixed scripts. Some people write صباح الخير 3lik — Arabic letters and Arabizi mid-sentence. Don't panic. Read the Arabic letters as themselves, the Arabizi as itself, and the meaning falls out.

Spelling variation. Stop trying to find the "correct" spelling. There isn't one. Recognize the sound pattern (cha vs sha vs sh, ou vs u, etc.) and move on.

A quick drill to internalize the system

Read these out loud, slowly. Don't translate yet — just produce the sounds.

1. 3afak, 3tini chi 7aja sokhna — please, give me something hot
2. kayn chi 7aja jdida f had l'sou9? — is there anything new in this market?
3. ma3reftch fin ghadi, walakin ghadi nemchi — I don't know where I'm going, but I'm going
4. bzzaf dyal lkhir 3lik a khoya — lots of good things upon you, my brother

If you can read those without slowing down, you've got Arabizi. The rest is vocabulary and ear training.

Using Arabizi in our app

Our dictionary shows every Darija word in three forms: Arabic script, Arabizi, and a simple phonetic guide. You can search either way. So khouya, 5oya, and خويا all return the same entry.

Pick whichever spelling your eyes parse fastest. The goal isn't to write Arabizi correctly — it's to read it without stalling, so the language stops feeling like a foreign alphabet on top of a foreign vocabulary.

Learn Darija the way Moroccans actually write it. Our free Darija course teaches you Arabizi and Arabic script side by side, so you can read messages, signs, and social media from day one. Start free →