k7al كحل
Algerian Darja · adjective
“k7al” (كحل) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning black (colour).
Meanings
- black (colour)
- dark-skinned (of a person)
Usage
K7al is the usual word for "black" in Algeria. Standard Arabic aswad is rarely used in speech. It agrees in gender and number: k7la in the feminine, k7ol in the plural. It is used for objects, clothes and hair ("cha3rou k7al"), but also for skin. In this last use, the word can be neutral or hurtful depending on tone and context. The expressions "k7al ras" or "wjeh k7al" can be derogatory. The verb k7al or k77al (to blacken, to put on kohl) is related.
Example
شريت سروال كحل
chrit serwal k7al
“I bought black trousers.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “k7al” but also “kahal”, “ka7el” and “kehel”. 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 “k7al” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “black (colour)”; “dark, ill-fated (figurative)”: k7el in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written اكحل, where it means “black (color)”; “dark, wicked (heart)”: ak7el in Tunisian.