dar echra3 دار الشرع
Algerian Darja · noun
“dar echra3” (دار الشرع) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning court of law.
Meanings
- court of law
- justice, legal action
Usage
Dar echra3, literally "the house of the law", means the court. It is a traditional expression, used mostly by older people or in a popular register. More commonly one says tribunal or el mahkama. It appears in phrases such as rouh l dar echra3 ("go to court") or nwasslek l dar echra3 ("I'll drag you to court"), in family, neighbour or inheritance disputes. Echra3 alone can also mean "justice".
Example
الخاوة تشكاو على الورث في دار الشرع.
el khawa tchkaw 3la el wert f dar echra3.
“The brothers took the inheritance to court.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dar echra3” but also “dar chra3”, “dar ech-chra3” and “dar echraa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.