kra3i كراعي
Algerian Darja · noun
“kra3i” (كراعي) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning my leg.
Meanings
- my leg
- my foot
Usage
Kra3i is the possessed form of kra3, "leg", followed by the suffix -i, "my". The word covers the whole leg, and often the foot as well: everyday speech does not always distinguish the two. The plural is kraa3, "legs", and "my legs" is kraa3i. It appears in everyday expressions: kra3i tewja3ni, "my leg hurts". Note that for a person kra3 is the ordinary word, while in cooking kra3 also means sheep's or calf's feet.
Example
كراعي راهي توجعني من الصباح.
kra3i rahi tooja3ni mel sbah.
“My leg has been hurting since this morning.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kra3i” but also “kraai”, “kra3y” and “kraa3i”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.