chahed شاهد
Algerian Darja · noun
“chahed” (شاهد) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning witness (of an event, an act).
Meanings
- witness (of an event, an act)
- court witness
Usage
Chahed refers to a person who saw an event or who attests to it: a witness to an accident, a quarrel, an official act or a wedding. The common plural is chouhoud. It is heard in phrases like "kayen chahed ?" (is there a witness?) or "ana chahed 3lih" (I am a witness to it). Note: in Arabic script, the same form can be the Modern Standard Arabic verb "to watch, to view", frequent in online video titles. In spoken darja, people rather say chouf or tfarrej for "to watch". This word should also not be confused with chahid, "martyr".
Example
ما كان حتى شاهد كي صرات الحادثة
ma kan hatta chahed ki sarat l7ad tha
“There wasn't a single witness when the accident happened.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chahed” but also “chahd”, “chahid” and “shahed”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “chahed” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “witness (of a fact, an act)”; “God is my witness (oath formula)”: chahed in Moroccan.