douar دوار
Algerian Darja · noun
“douar” (دوار) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning douar, rural village, hamlet.
Meanings
- douar, rural village, hamlet
- the countryside, the bled
Usage
Douar means a rural village or hamlet, often a cluster of families in the countryside. Algerian French has borrowed the word as is. The plural is dwawer. "Ould douar", child of the douar, proudly claims rural origins. It can also be used to gently tease someone considered a "country bumpkin", a bit like "hick". Not to be confused with dawar chems, the sunflower, nor with the verb dowwar, to turn. The register is everyday and informal.
Example
جدي ساكن في الدوار، نروحولو كل صيف.
jeddi saken fe douar, nrouhoulou koul sif.
“My grandfather lives in the douar, we go to see him every summer.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “douar” but also “dwar”, “dewar”, “douwar” and “doar”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “douar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “hamlet, small rural village”; “outlying working-class neighbourhood”: douar in Tunisian.