Greetings

Lesson objective

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• greet people
• introduce yourself
• ask someone’s name
• ask how someone is
• say goodbye

Greetings in Moroccan culture

Greetings and farewells are very important in Moroccan life. A Moroccan greeting is usually not as quick as a simple “hi.” Two people may take time to ask different questions about:

• each other
• their families
• their health
• life in general

Greetings can change from one region of Morocco to another — the questions may be different, and the physical greeting may also be different. People may:

• shake hands
• kiss cheeks
• kiss someone’s head or hand
• place one hand over the heart after shaking hands

When greeting a group, you should greet everyone in the same way you greeted the first person. Sometimes a friend may greet you without introducing you to the other people nearby, and sometimes people in a group may not greet a stranger in the same way because they may feel shy.

You do not need to give a long answer when someone asks how you are — a normal short answer is enough, for example:

Fine, thanks be to God.

Basic greeting expressions

These two expressions are used together — Person A says s-salamu 3alaykum, Person B answers wa 3alaykum s-salam.

Morning greeting

Good morning — ṣbaн l-xir (the same expression is used as the response)

Afternoon and evening greeting

Good afternoon / Good evening — msa l-xir (the same expression is used as the response)

Asking someone’s name

Meeting someone

Nice to meet you — mtšrfin (the same expression can be used by both people)

Asking how someone is

Answering

Farewells

Greetings dialogue

English meaning: John greets Mohamed with “Peace be upon you,” and Mohamed replies in kind. They ask how each other are doing, exchange names, and say it’s nice to meet each other.

Transcription reminder

• š — the sound sh, as in she
• a — the vowel in father or the vowel in mad
• x — similar to the ch in the German word Bach, or the Scottish word loch
• i — the long ee sound in meet
• u — the long oo sound in food

Exercise: put the dialogue in the correct order

The following lines from a dialogue between Chris and Amy are mixed up. Try putting them back in the correct order before checking with a teacher.

1. Chris: ṣbaн l-xir.
2. Amy: mtšrfin.
3. Chris: kif dayra?
4. Amy: šnu smitk?
5. Chris: labas, l-нamdullah.
6. Amy: smiti Amy.
7. Chris: smiti Chris. u nti?
8. Amy: ṣbaн l-xir.
9. Chris: mtšrfin.
10. Amy: bixir, l-нamdullah. u nta?