hadjra حجرة
Algerian Darja · noun
“hadjra” (حجرة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning stone, pebble.
Meanings
- stone, pebble
- unfeeling, unresponsive person
Usage
Hadjra means a stone or pebble, from gravel up to a large rock. It is a feminine noun. The collective is hdjar or hjar, as in "hdjar f trig", stones on the road. The word appears in proverbs and expressions. Figuratively, you can call someone a hadjra if they stay unresponsive or show no emotion. The game "rock-paper-scissors" is commonly called hadjra, waraqa, miqass. It is also written hajra, with dj or j pronounced depending on the region.
Example
رد بالك، كاين حجرة في الطريق
red balek, kayen hadjra f triq
“Be careful, there's a stone on the road.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hadjra” but also “hajra”, “7adjra”, “7ajra” and “hedjra”. 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 “hadjra” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “stone, pebble”; “rock, boulder”: 7ajra in Tunisian.