nnar النار
Algerian Darja · noun
“nnar” (النار) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning fire.
Meanings
- fire
- hell (religious sense)
Usage
Nnar first means actual fire: that of the stove, the barbecue or a blaze. One says "ch3el nnar" (light the fire) and "tfi nnar" (put out the fire). In religious vocabulary, the definite article gives it the meaning of hell, as in invocations borrowed from Classical Arabic ("3adhab nnar", the punishment of the fire). The word also appears in everyday imagery to speak of intense heat, a very high price or a lively, energetic person. Context is generally enough to tell the senses apart. The word is feminine: one says "nnar ch3lat", the fire has caught.
Example
شعل النار باش نطيبو
ch3el nnar bach ntaybou
“Light the fire so we can cook.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “nnar” but also “nar”, “enar”, “ennar” and “nnaar”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “nnar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “fire, flames”; “hell”: nnar in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “fire”; “hell”: ennar in Tunisian.