berrani براني
Algerian Darja · adjective
“berrani” (براني) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning stranger, unknown person.
Meanings
- stranger, unknown person
- foreign, foreigner (from another country)
- external, from outside
Usage
The word berrani first designates someone who is not part of the group: not from the family, the neighborhood or the town. It is the opposite of wlid lebled, "child of the country", or mel l'familia. Used on its own, berrani can therefore refer to an Algerian from another region. It is also used for a foreigner in the national sense. The feminine is berraniya. The word often carries a nuance of distrust or exclusion: ma n3tihach l berrani, "I will not give her (in marriage) to someone from outside the family".
Example
هذا واحد براني ماشي من الحومة.
hada wa7ed berrani machi mel 7ouma.
“That's a stranger, he's not from the neighborhood.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “berrani” but also “barrani”, “brani”, “berani” and “barani”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “berrani” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “outsider (to the family, group)”; “outer, from outside”: barrani in Tunisian.