khatar خطر
Algerian Darja · noun
“khatar” (خطر) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning danger, risk.
Meanings
- danger, risk
- because (khater)
- for the sake of (fi khater)
Usage
Read as khatar, the word means "danger": fih el khatar ("it's dangerous"), rah f khatar ("he is in danger"). Important pitfall: the same Arabic spelling is also used to write khater, a very frequent word in Algeria meaning "because": ma jitch khater kont mrid. Fi khater means "for the sake of, in honour of". The related word khatra means "once". In writing, only context distinguishes these uses. In arabizi, khatar is often written for danger and khater for "because".
Example
ما تقربش، فيها الخطر
ma t9orbch, fiha el khatar
“Don't go near, it's dangerous.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khatar” but also “5atar”, “khater”, “5ater” and “khatr”. 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 “khatar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “danger, risk”; “dangerous (predicate)”: khatar in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “danger”; “risk”: khtar in Tunisian.