cha3er شاعر
Moroccan Darija · noun
“cha3er” (شاعر) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning poet.
Meanings
- poet
Usage
Cha3er means someone who composes poems, in Arabic as in darija, whether a classical author or a malhoun or zajal poet. The word sounds slightly formal but is still common, especially on television, at school, or when talking about singer-songwriters. The feminine is cha3ra and the common plural is chou3ara. Jokingly, a person who speaks in a flowery or dreamy way is called "cha3er". Do not confuse it with cha3el, "crazy", whose Latin spelling is similar.
Example
خوه شاعر، كيكتب الزجل
khouh cha3er, kayekteb zzajal
“His brother is a poet, he writes zajal.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “cha3er” but also “cha3ir”, “chaa3ir”, “sha3er” and “chaer”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.