7ayawan حيوان
Algerian Darja · noun
“7ayawan” (حيوان) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning animal, beast.
Meanings
- animal, beast
- brute, idiot (insult)
Usage
Ḥayawan is the general term for "animal". It is understood everywhere, but in everyday speech more specific words are often preferred, or "bhayem" for livestock. It appears in school discussions ("ḥayawan wella ḥachara?", animal or insect?) and in documentaries. Said to someone, "ya ḥayawan" is a fairly strong insult, meaning "you brute" or "you idiot". The plural ḥayawanat is used for animals in general, for example in "jnina ta3 lḥayawanat" (the zoo).
Example
الدرّي يحب الحيوانات بزاف
eddarri y7ab l7ayawanat bezzaf
“The little one loves animals a lot.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7ayawan” but also “hayawan”, “7aywan”, “haywan” and “7ayawen”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “7ayawan” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “animal”; “brute, boorish person (pejorative)”: 7ayawan in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “animal, beast”; “brute, idiot (pejorative)”: 7ayawen in Tunisian.