7mer حمر
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“7mer” (حمر) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning red.
Meanings
- red
- red-haired
- rare, raw (meat)
Usage
The adjective 7mer agrees: 7mra in the feminine, 7umer in the plural. It describes a colour, red hair or a flushed face: "wejhu wella 7mer" (his face turned red). The verb 7mmer means to turn red or to brown, for example to brown bread or an onion. Pitfall: 7mar, with a long vowel a, is a different word, the donkey. It is also used as an insult ("idiot"), as in "kanban lik 7mar ?". Do not confuse the two in writing.
Example
عندي شعر حمر
3ndi ch3er 7mer
“I have red hair.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7mer” but also “7mr”, “hmer”, “7emer” and “7mar”. 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 “7mer” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “red (plural)”; “reddened (eyes)”: 7mar in Tunisian.