dhak ضحك
Algerian Darja · verb
“dhak” (ضحك) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to laugh.
Meanings
- to laugh
- to mock (with 3la)
- to fool someone (dhak 3la)
Usage
A very common verb: perfect dhak (he laughed), imperfect yadhak (he laughs). The corresponding noun is dhek or dahk (laughter): ma qdertch nahbes men dhek, "I couldn't stop laughing". With the preposition 3la, dhak 3la means "to mock" or "to trick someone": dhak 3liya, "he made fun of me, he got me". The intensive form dahhak means "to make laugh": dahhakni, "he made me laugh". So watch the preposition, which clearly changes the meaning.
Example
كي شافني ضحك
ki chafni dhak
“When he saw me, he laughed.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dhak” but also “dha7k”, “d7ak”, “dhek” and “dahk”. 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 “dhak” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to laugh”; “to mock someone (d7ek 3la)”: d7ek in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to laugh”; “laughter (noun)”: dh7ak in Tunisian.