7jer حجر

Moroccan Darija · noun

“7jer” (حجر) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning stones, pebbles (collective).

Meanings

1. stones, pebbles (collective)
2. stone (material)

Usage

7jer is a collective noun: it refers to stones in general, or to stone as a material. For a single stone, use the singular noun 7ejra. You hear it in phrases like 3amra 7jer ("full of pebbles") or dar mbniya b 7jer ("house built of stone"). The plural 7jar is also used for several stones taken one by one. For an English speaker, the pitfall is using 7jer for a single stone: you need 7ejra, with wa7ed l- in front.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7jer” but also “7jar”, “7jr”, “hjer” and “hjar”. 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 “7jer” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “stone(s), pebbles”; “quarantine, lockdown”: 7jar in Algerian.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “stones, pebbles (collective)”; “stone (material)”: 7jar in Tunisian.