khali خالي
Algerian Darja · noun
“khali” (خالي) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning my maternal uncle.
Meanings
- my maternal uncle
- empty, vacant (place)
- uncle (respectful address)
Usage
Khali means "my uncle", and only on the mother's side. The father's brother is 3ammi, and the two are easily confused. It is also used to address an older man politely, like "uncle". There is a homograph, the adjective khali ("empty, vacant"), whose feminine is khawya: "el blassa khawya" (the place is free). Context tells the two words apart. The maternal aunt is khalti.
Example
خالي ساكن في وهران
khali saken f Wahran
“My maternal uncle lives in Oran.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khali” but also “5ali”, “khaly”, “kheli” and “khalii”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khali” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “my maternal uncle”; “affectionate term for an older man”: khali in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “my maternal uncle”; “address to an older man”: khali in Tunisian.