# All dialects: spoon, fork, knife



## Hemza

Hello,

-spoon:
In Morocco, we call spoon either معلقة or in some areas, it is also called مغرفة (although this one usually means ladle).
In Hijazi, ملعقة.

-fork:
In Morocco: شوكة although some people use an arabised version of the French word, فورشيطة 
In Hijazi, شوكة

-knife
In Morocco it is either سكين, موس or مديتة (probably a تصغير or مدية).
In Hijazi, سكين

How do you call those in other dialects?

Thanks.


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## elroy

Palestinian:

spoon: معلقة 
fork: شوكة 
knife: سكّينة

A couple regional forms I know are زلفة for "spoon" and سيخ (which means "skewer" in other parts of Palestine) for "knife."

In Palestinian مغرفة is "ladle" and موس is "razor blade."


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## Mahaodeh

elroy said:


> Palestinian:
> 
> spoon: معلقة



I've also heard ملعقة, not sure which one is more common though.

Iraqi Arabic:
Spoon: خاشوقة, except for in Mousil it's قاشوقة
Fork: جطل or شوكة, the first is pronounced 'chaTal'
Knife: سكين أو سكينة , most of the time the kaaf is pronounced as a 'ch'.

Not sure what the origin of the words for spoon and fork are.


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## elroy

Mahaodeh said:


> I've also heard ملعقة, not sure which one is more common though.


 I've only ever heard معلقة, so I can confidently say that's more common.


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## Mahaodeh

Maybe ملعقة is the effect of MSA.


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## analeeh

In Syrian as in Palestinian.

There's also the regional خاشوقة (with various combinations of _gh kh q_ etc) from Turkish _kaşık _for 'spoon', and سكين as a variant of سكينه.


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## elroy

analeeh said:


> In Syrian as in Palestinian.


 Just to clarify, Syrian doesn't have زلفة for "spoon" or سيخ for "knife," does it?


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## tounsi51

TA

spoon= مغرفة
fork= فرشيطة
knife= سكّينة


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## 3arbiChawi

Eastern Algerian Arabic

spoon = غنجاية
fork = فرشاطة
knife = موس 
tall wood spoon for cooking = معلقة
ladle (as in morroce) = مغرفة


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## 3arbiChawi

morroce I meant morroco !


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## Hemza

Thanks to everyone for your input . No one use مدية ?



Mahaodeh said:


> Not sure what the origin of the words for spoon and fork are.



Once I met an Iranian and we randomly came to talk about vocabulary, and she told me that in Persian, "spoon" is قاشق (pronounced غاشوغ). May be from there?


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## Mahaodeh

Hemza said:


> she told me that in Persian, "spoon" is قاشق (pronounced غاشوغ). May be from there?



Could be, or it could also be that the Iraqi and Persian words come from Turkish:



analeeh said:


> There's also the regional خاشوقة (with various combinations of _gh kh q_ etc) from Turkish _kaşık _for 'spoon', and سكين as a variant of سكينه.


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## analeeh

All three are definitely related and I'm pretty confident that the original is probably Persian, borrowed into Turkish and then from Turkish into Arabic (or possibly in Iraqi from Persian directly). The Persian is _qâşoq~qâşogh_ (the _q_ can either be pronounced as a voiced equivalent of Arabic qāf or a fricative) and the Turkish is _kaşık_, which classically would have been pronounced _qaşıq_ (and still is in some parts of Turkey) or _qaşığ-_ with a suffix (where _ğ_ would have been غ rather than silent as it is now). Both are plausible etymologies for the Arabic forms.


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## djara

tounsi51 said:


> TA
> 
> spoon= مغرفة also, regionally, غُنجاية
> fork= فرشيطة also pronounced 'fargueeta' in some areas (probably from Sicilian)
> knife= سكّينة regional variants: موس، حَجّامة
> ladle = غُرّاف، مُغرُف


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## Sun-Shine

In Egypt:

Spoon: معلقة
Fork: شوكة
Knife: سكينة


Hemza said:


> No one use مدية ?


I think I heard it before.


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## Hemza

Thanks to other members for their input

@djara any idea of عنجاية origin? It is the first time I see this word, I don't know if it exists in Morocco.



elroy said:


> A couple regional forms I know are زلفة for "spoon"



Oddly, it looks like the word we use for bowl which is زلافة



sun_shine 331995 said:


> In Egypt:
> Spoon: معلقة


My Egyptian friend always says ملعقة but I guess this is due to Standard Arabic influence?


sun_shine 331995 said:


> I think I heard it before.



In Egypt?


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## tounsi51

Hemza said:


> Thanks to other members for their input
> 
> @djara any idea of عنجاية origin? It is the first time I see this word, I don't know if it exists in Morocco.



It is غنجاية and comes from berber


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## Hemza

Ah thank you يا سي تونسي  : )


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## oopqoo

There is also خوصة in Palestinian (5uuSa) meaning knife. It might be only in the Triangle area though...


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## djara

Hemza said:


> @djara any idea of عنجاية origin? It is the first time I see this word, *I don't know if it exists in Morocco*.


According to Mohand Akli Haddadou's Dictionnaire des racines berbères communes, the word is used in the Central Moroccan and Chelha Berber dialects (in addition to many other dialects). Below, in bold, the Moroccan Berber usage of the word (MC= Maroc central; Chl = Chelha):


> taghenjit, pl. tighenjiwin « petite cuiller » (Nef) aghenja, pl. ighenjayen « louche » taghenjayt « cuiller » (Wrg) aghenja, pl. ighenjayen « louche , grosse cuiller » taghenjayt, pl. tighenjayin « cuiller » (Mzb) *aghenja, pl. ighenja, ighenjayen, ighenjawen « grosse louche, en bois ou en métal » taghenjayt, pl. tighenjayin « petite louche, cuiller , truelle » taghenjawt, pl. tighenjawin, ms. (MC) aghenja, pl. ighenjawen « grande cuiller, louche » taghenjawt, pl. tighenjawin « cuiller, truelle » (Chl) *aghenja, pl. ighenjayen « grande cuiller, louche » taghenjayt, pl. tighenjayin « cuiller » (R) agh°enja, pl. igh°enja « louche », tagh°enjawt, pl. tigh°enjawin « cuiller », agh°enoa, tagh°enoawt, ms. (K) aghenja, pl. ighenjawen « louche » taghenjawt, tighenjawin « cuiller » (Cha)


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## Sun-Shine

Hemza said:


> My Egyptian friend always says ملعقة but I guess this is due to Standard Arabic influence?


I didn't hear anyone say ملعقة. 
About مدية I don't remember where or when I heard it.


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## momai

analeeh said:


> There's also the regional خاشوقة (with various combinations of _gh kh q_ etc) from Turkish _kaşık _for 'spoon', and سكين as a variant of سكينه.


Since older generation, not a long time ago, used to use the word _khashouqa_, people still know what it means. But خاشوقة is now obsolete in Syria.


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## MeesoKaroui

I know this is reallllly old but I had to. I'm Tunisian and far as I understand the word for fork I believe got brought in from the French colony. French word for fork is 'fourchette'. In tounsi we say 'fourchetta' (someone else mentioned this is Italian so I might've been mistaken thinking it came from the French word for fork). I'm from the countryside and I've heard ghonjeya used by my dad and my dad's side of the family always for spoon. It is from Amazigh  As Amazigh was the original language to Tunisia, it is what got influenced by several languages due to invasions later on, you'll find a lot of vocabulary in Tounsi derja is of Amazigh origin


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## WadiH

We say ملعقة _mil3agah_ for 'spoon' today, but in the past the word was خاشوقة _khaashuugah._

In Kuwait I believe they also use the word قفشة _gefsheh._


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## wriight

Lebanon —

*Spoon:* مَلعقة مَعلقة مَلقعة مَلعة مَلقة, all with either a فتحة or a سكون on the second-to-last consonant. (The last two are due to ق being pronounced ء, as the ء and ع sounds aren't very friendly to each other.) The word خاشوقة is also obsolete for us by three generations or so.
*Fork:* شَوْكة or فرتَيْكة, latter being from Italian _forchetta_ (with metathesis + diminutive فعلَيْقة pattern).
*Knife:* سِكِّينة. Not sure what variants exist for this one!


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## MeesoKaroui

wriight said:


> Lebanon —
> 
> *Spoon:* مَلعقة مَعلقة مَلقعة مَلعة مَلقة, all with either a فتحة or a سكون on the second-to-last consonant. (The last two are due to ق being pronounced ء, as the ء and ع sounds aren't very friendly to each other.) The word خاشوقة is also obsolete for us by three generations or so.
> *Fork:* شَوْكة or فرتَيْكة, latter being from Italian _forchetta_ (with metathesis + diminutive فعلَيْقة pattern).
> *Knife:* سِكِّينة. Not sure what variants exist for this one!


This is super fascinating. I never knew Lebanon had Italian input either 

Also I didn't know forchetta is Italian for fork! That means in my home language, Tunisian, we say the Italian for fork and it wasn't a twist of or introduced by the French word fourchette as I thought


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## wriight

Nice! I don't know for sure about the Tunisian word, but if it's pronounced with a ش sound instead of a ك sound like in Italian, then I think you were actually right about it being from fourchette instead of forchetta. How common is ghonjeya in comparison, by the way?


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## MeesoKaroui

wriight said:


> Nice! I don't know for sure about the Tunisian word, but if it's pronounced with a ش sound instead of a ك sound like in Italian, then I think you were actually right about it being from fourchette instead of forchetta. How common is ghonjeya in comparison, by the way?


So you guys pronounce it with a 'k', explains why you wrote it that way in Arabic! 😆 So how did Italian come into Lebanese language?

For us any written 'ch' is pronounced as 'sh'. Maybe it's a mix of both lol. Fourchetta is standard, there's probs diff words in some places. In comparison only heard ghonjeya from my dad's family, grandparent, my father etc. Never heard it at a restaurant or my mums side. What I've heard from these places for spoon is 'mghrfa', said quickly and the m has a special pronunciation I can't write. I don't live in Tunisia though so who knows!


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## bearded

elroy said:


> معلقة


Do you pronounce it ''mil3aqa'' as in MSA or ''mala'a'' as they do in Egypt?


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## Hemza

Thanks again to everyone for your input. I suppose غنجاية in Maghrebi dialects may be used in areas where Tamazight influence is stronger. I've never heard it used amongst my relatives in Morocco, I learnt about this word here . I only know معلقة (m3alqa)


Sun-Shine said:


> I didn't hear anyone say ملعقة


I asked my friend and you're right, he never uses ملعقة, he always says معلقة but because the ق isn't pronounced, I have got confused.


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## djara

Actually the word ملعقة mal3qa/mal3ga exists in Tunisian also, but it means trowel, not spoon.


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## Hemza

analeeh said:


> All three are definitely related and I'm pretty confident that the original is probably Persian, borrowed into Turkish and then from Turkish into Arabic (or possibly in Iraqi from Persian directly). The Persian is _qâşoq~qâşogh_ (the _q_ can either be pronounced as a voiced equivalent of Arabic qāf or a fricative) and the Turkish is _kaşık_, which classically would have been pronounced _qaşıq_ (and still is in some parts of Turkey) or _qaşığ-_ with a suffix (where _ğ_ would have been غ rather than silent as it is now). Both are plausible etymologies for the Arabic forms.


كاشيك is the usual word in Libya for spoon and trowel.


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## fenakhay

There is also مغرف (mughruf) for ladle.


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## elroy

bearded said:


> Do you pronounce it ''mil3aqa'' as in MSA or ''mala'a'' as they do in Egypt?


It’s _maʿlaʾa_ (مَعْلَقَة).
The ل and the ع are metathesized.


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## Hemza

@tarik45

 I pronounce /səkkīn/ so a bit different from classical Arabic. As for spoon, it is me3alqa (I had no idea your pronunciation exists) but I hear a lot of people who pronounce it m3alqa.

Some Moroccans use فورشيطة while some others use شوكة and I am amongst these latter.


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## Derakhshan

In Bahrain:

Spoon:
قفشة (from Persian کفچه literally "little palm")
كمچة (same deal, from چمچه)
خاشوقة (Persian قاشق, Turkish kaşık, rarer than the former two)

Fork: شوكة

Knife: سِچّين


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## tarik45

Hemza said:


> As for spoon, it is me3alqa (I had no idea your pronunciation exists)


Our pronounciation would be more similar to the Egyptian ma3la'a, but then add the qaaf. 
So, we place sukkoon on the ع unlike the 'standard Moroccan pronounciation'.



Hemza said:


> Some Moroccans use فورشيطة while some others use شوكة and I am amongst these latter.



How would you pronounce شوكة because we use that word to mean 'injection, shot'.
For example: عملت الشوكة ديال التلقيح

As for the words we do use to say fork: forshita, tinidor or sometimes metshekka (متشكة).


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## tracer2

tarik45 said:


> As for the words we do use to say fork: forshita, *tinidor* or sometimes metshekka (متشكة).


*tinidor *(fork)....directly from Spanish /tenedor/ via /tener/ verb "to hold"  "to have"


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## Hemza

tarik45 said:


> Our pronounciation would be more similar to the Egyptian ma3la'a, but then add the qaaf.
> So, we place sukkoon on the ع unlike the 'standard Moroccan pronounciation'.


Now you say it, I remember being surprised the day I heard a Moroccan calling a snake "7nash" while I say (and used to hear) "7ansh" (or 7ayya/laf3a).


tarik45 said:


> How would you pronounce شوكة because we use that word to mean 'injection, shot'.
> For example: عملت الشوكة ديال التلقيح


"Shuuka", and you're right, it's also used for injection.


tarik45 said:


> As for the words we do use to say fork: forshita, tinidor or sometimes metshekka (متشكة).


Tinidor? First time I hear this but then I'm not from the North so I don't understand the Spanish words you use.


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## tarik45

Hemza said:


> Now you say it, I remember being surprised the day I heard a Moroccan calling a snake "7nash" while I say (and used to hear) "7ansh" (or 7ayya/laf3a).


We mainly use 7ayya. But I have heard 7nash (or la7nash, with fused definite article like in the word laf3a) used before. I was not aware of the '7ansh' pronounciation. Both make sense of course, the original word is 7anash in Classical Arabic. We do call the dish (see image) "m7ansha"  because of its shape. Do you also call it that?



Hemza said:


> Tinidor? First time I hear this but then I'm not from the North so I don't understand the Spanish words you use.


I get that. Luckily, many of these words are fading out and being replaced by the 'more common' Moroccan words for these items.


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## Hemza

tarik45 said:


> We do call the dish (see image) "m7ansha"  because of its shape. Do you also call it that?


Yes


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