zarga زرقا
Algerian Darja · adjective
“zarga” (زرقا) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning blue (feminine of zreg).
Meanings
- blue (feminine of zreg)
- dark-skinned (woman)
Usage
Zarga, often pronounced with a hard g, is the feminine of zreg, "blue". It describes a blue object: a car, a dress, the sea. By extension, it is used for a woman or girl with dark skin. Depending on the tone, it is affectionate or pejorative. It is heard as a nickname or a form of address ("ya zarga"). Be aware that when applied to a person, the word does not refer to the color blue but to the complexion. It is best avoided with someone you don't know.
Example
شريت طوموبيل زرقا.
chrit tomobil zarga.
“I bought a blue car.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zarga” but also “zerga”, “zarqa”, “zer9a” and “zar9a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find زرقا and زرقة, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “zarga” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written زرقة, where it means “blue (feminine of azra9)”: zar9a in Tunisian.