ziyara زيارة
Algerian Darja · noun
“ziyara” (زيارة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning visit (to a person, a place).
Meanings
- visit (to a person, a place)
- pious visit to a saint
- offering made during that visit
Usage
Ziyara, "visit", is used mostly with the verb dar: dir ziyara, "pay a visit", or jina f ziyara, "we came for a visit". The word covers both family visits and trips back to the home country: ziyara l'dzayer. In a religious or traditional context, ziyara refers to a visit to the shrine of a saint (sidi) and, by extension, the offering left there. The corresponding verb is zar, "to visit": zarna, "he visited us". The register is neutral, and the word is understood everywhere in Algeria.
Example
نديرو زيارة لجدّي نهار الجمعة
ndiro ziyara l'jeddi nhar ljem3a
“We'll visit my grandfather on Friday.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ziyara” but also “ziara”, “zyara” and “ziyaraa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “ziyara” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “visit (to someone, a patient)”; “pious visit to a shrine”: zyara in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “visit”; “pilgrimage to a saint's shrine”: zyara in Tunisian.