s5ana سخانة
Algerian Darja · noun
“s5ana” (سخانة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning fever.
Meanings
- fever
- intense heat, heatwave
Usage
S5ana comes from the root meaning "hot" (s5oun) and has two common uses. For the body, it means fever: "jatou s5ana", he has a fever. For the weather, it means intense heat: "s5ana bezzaf lyoum", it's very hot today. Context decides. The word is feminine and belongs to the informal register, in speech as well as in messages. For fever you also hear "l7oumma", which is closer to the standard language. Pitfall: don't always read it as "heat" when an illness is meant.
Example
الطفل جاتو سخانة البارح في الليل.
tfel jatou s5ana lbare7 fel lil.
“The little one had a fever last night.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “s5ana” but also “skhana”, “sekhana”, “sokhana” and “s5ouna”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “s5ana” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “fever”; “heat, warmth”: skhana in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “fever”; “heat (weather, room)”: skhana in Tunisian.