khyal خيال
Algerian Darja · noun
“khyal” (خيال) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning imagination, fiction.
Meanings
- imagination, fiction
- image or silhouette of someone
- unbelievable thing, a dream
Usage
Khyal first means imagination or anything to do with fiction: "aflam khyal" for science-fiction or fantasy films, "ghir khyal" for an idea with no basis. It also means a person's image or silhouette, especially in songs and poetry: "twahacht khyal el habib" ("I miss the silhouette of my beloved"). Used alone as an exclamation before a landscape or something beautiful, it expresses wonder: "khyal !" is like saying "it's like a dream". Not to be confused with khayyal ("horseman").
Example
هادي غير خيال، ماكانش منها
hadi ghir khyal, makanch menha
“It's just imagination, it doesn't exist.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khyal” but also “khayal”, “5yal” and “khial”. 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 “khyal” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “silhouette, glimpsed shadow”; “imagination”: khyal in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “imagination”; “fiction, unreal thing”: 5ayel in Tunisian.