gharb غرب
Algerian Darja · noun
“gharb” (غرب) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning west (cardinal direction).
Meanings
- west (cardinal direction)
- western Algeria
Usage
Gharb means west. In Algeria, el gharb very often refers to the west of the country (Oran, Tlemcen, Mostaganem…), as opposed to ech-cherg (the East) and the centre. Wlad el gharb is used for people from the West, and the adjective gharbi applies notably to their accent. The word can also mean "the West" (the Occident), especially in a more formal register. Pitfall: do not confuse it with gharb "foreigner" or ghorba "exile", which come from a related root.
Example
هو من الغرب، من وهران.
houwa men el gharb, men Wahran.
“He's from the West, from Oran.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “gharb” but also “ghareb”, “3'arb” and “rarb”. 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.
Type “gharb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “west, the Occident”; “the Gharb (region of Morocco)”: gharb in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “west”; “the Western countries”: gharb in Tunisian.