koucha كوشة
Algerian Darja · noun
“koucha” (كوشة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning oven (baker's, traditional).
Meanings
- oven (baker's, traditional)
- bakery, neighbourhood oven
Usage
Koucha means an oven, especially the baker's large oven or the neighbourhood oven where bread and cakes prepared at home used to be taken. By extension, the word also refers to the bakery itself, alongside boulanger or boulangeri. For the oven of a domestic stove, people tend to say "el four". Constructions such as "ddi lkhobz l koucha" (take the bread to the oven) are found. The register is familiar and everyday, with a somewhat traditional colouring.
Example
ديت الخبز للكوشة
dit lkhobz l koucha
“I took the bread to the oven.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “koucha” but also “kousha”, “kocha” and “kouche”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “koucha” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “oven (kitchen)”; “neighbourhood oven, bakery”: koucha in Tunisian.