lhad الحد
Algerian Darja · noun
“lhad” (الحد) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning Sunday.
Meanings
- Sunday
- limit, boundary
Usage
El-had commonly means Sunday, especially in nhar el-had ("the day of Sunday"). This is the first working day of the week in Algeria, which often surprises English speakers used to a Sunday weekend. The same word appears in place names, such as Theniet El Had or Souk El Had, after the former market day. In a more general register, el-hadd also means "the limit": hatta l el-hadd ("to the limit"). Context is enough to tell the two meanings apart.
Example
نرجع للخدمة نهار الحد
nerja3 l lkhedma nhar lhad
“I go back to work on Sunday.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lhad” but also “elhad”, “l7ad” and “el7ad”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “lhad” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “Sunday”: l7ed in Moroccan.