حديث في دكان السجائر والتهديد بالمزاح

What does “butika” mean in Moroccan Arabic?

بوتيكة (būtīka) is the Moroccan Darija word for a small neighborhood shop, the kind that sells cigarettes, soft drinks, bread, and candy from a counter that opens onto the street. The word came straight from French boutique, one of thousands of French words that settled into Moroccan Arabic during the Protectorate (1912-1956). Maghrebi Arabic has its own French-loanword shelf: tomobile (automobile, car), triciti (électricité, electricity), tabla (table). Butika is common enough that many Moroccans don’t think of it as borrowed at all.

In this clip, a Moroccan speaker calls a corner store būtīka dyal al-gārū, the cigarette boutique: “بوتيكة ديال القارو.”