maftouh مفتوح
Algerian Darja · adjective
“maftouh” (مفتوح) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning open (door, shop, container).
Meanings
- open (door, shop, container)
- open, available (registration, account, donations)
- light (colour)
Usage
Maftouh is used for a door, a window, a shop, a bottle or an account. It agrees in gender and number: maftouha in the feminine, maftouhin in the plural. In conversation, many Algerians prefer mahloul for "open", especially for a door or a shop. Maftouh then sounds slightly more formal or closer to written language, but it is perfectly common. To say that something is "open" in the sense of accessible, like a registration or a fundraiser, maftouh is also used. For an open-minded person, you more often hear the loanword "ouvert" or descriptive phrases. The "light colour" sense is less common than fateh.
Example
الحانوت مفتوح حتى للعشية؟
el hanout maftouh hetta l'3achiya?
“Is the shop open until late afternoon?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “maftouh” but also “mftouh”, “meftouh”, “maftou7” and “mftoh”. 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 “maftouh” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “open”; “light (colour)”: meftou7 in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “open”; “welcoming, open-minded”: maftou7 in Tunisian.