wa7id وحيد
Algerian Darja · adjective
“wa7id” (وحيد) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning only, the sole one.
Meanings
- only, the sole one
- only child
- alone, isolated
Usage
Wḥid mainly means "only, the sole one": wlid wḥid, "only son", howa l'wḥid li ja, "he is the only one who came". Used on its own, it often refers to an only child. To say "alone" in the sense of "without company", darja rather uses wḥdi, wḥdek, wḥdou ("me alone, you alone, him alone"): rani wḥdi, "I am alone". The sense of "solitary, isolated" exists, but it is more literary. The feminine is wḥida.
Example
هو ولد وحيد عند يماه
howa wlid wa7id 3and yemmah
“He is his mother's only son.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “wa7id” but also “wahid”, “w7id”, “wahed” and “ouahid”. 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 “wa7id” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “alone, lonely”; “only, sole”: wa7id in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “only, sole (the one of its kind)”; “alone, isolated”: wa7id in Tunisian.