barato باراطو
Algerian Darja · adjective
“barato” (باراطو) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning cheap, inexpensive.
Meanings
- cheap, inexpensive
Usage
Barato is a borrowing from Spanish used mainly in western Algeria, especially in the Oran region, where Spanish influence is strong. It describes an item or a low price: barato bezzaf, "very cheap". The register is colloquial, typical of the market and of haggling. In the rest of the country, people usually say rkhis. The word is invariable in everyday use. In some contexts it can carry a pejorative nuance of "low-end".
Example
هاد الصباط باراطو بزاف
had sebbat barato bezzaf
“These shoes are really cheap.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “barato” but also “baratou” and “bara6o”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 6 is emphatic ta (ط).