harka حركة
Algerian Darja · noun
“harka” (حركة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning movement, gesture.
Meanings
- movement, gesture
- action, move, trick
- political movement
Usage
Harka refers to a physical movement or gesture: "ma dirch harka" means "don't move". It is also used for an action or move that someone makes, often with a nuance of cunning: "dar fiya harka" is said of someone who played a trick on you. In the political register, the word is used to name a movement or a party. Note: in Algeria, the word also refers historically to the harkis, and using it to target a person can be a very pejorative accusation of treason.
Example
ما تديرش حتى حركة، خليك بلاصتك
ma dirch hetta harka, khallik blastek
“Don't make any movement, stay where you are.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “harka” but also “7arka”, “haraka”, “7araka” and “harkat”. 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 “harka” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “movement, gesture”; “action, initiative”: 7araka in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “movement (political, social)”; “movement, gesture”: 7arka in Tunisian.