Other Transcription Symbols

Lesson objective

In this lesson, you will understand how the hyphen and apostrophe are used in Moroccan Arabic transcription.

The hyphen

Darija Academy lessons use a hyphen for three main reasons:

• To show the definite article (“the”) — formed by adding “l-” or by doubling the first consonant; the hyphen shows it has been attached to the noun.
• To connect a present-tense prefix to a verb — prefixes like kan-, kat-, and kay- are joined to the verb with a hyphen, making the verb easy to recognize.
• To show negation — Darija negation uses ma- before the verb and -š after it, both connected with hyphens.

Does the hyphen change pronunciation?

The hyphen is mainly a visual guide — it helps you see the structure of a word or expression. It does not always mean you must pause: sometimes the sounds before and after the hyphen flow together, and other times the rhythm breaks slightly.

The apostrophe

The apostrophe ‘ represents a glottal stop — a small break between sounds, similar to the break in the English expression “uh-oh.”

When you see an apostrophe, don’t connect the sound before it directly to the sound after it — leave a small, clear break between the two.