chahed شاهد
Moroccan Darija · noun
“chahed” (شاهد) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning witness (of a fact, an act).
Meanings
- witness (of a fact, an act)
- God is my witness (oath formula)
Usage
Chahed refers to a person who has seen a fact or attests to it, in court as in everyday life, for example at a wedding or a contract signing. It is very common in the formula "w rbbi chahed" ("and God is my witness"), used to swear to one's sincerity. The usual plural is chohoud. Note: the word chahid, with a long i, means "martyr". In written arabizi the two are often confused, because the spellings look very similar.
Example
ماكانكدبش و ربي شاهد
makankdebch ou rbi chahed
“I'm not lying, and God is my witness.”
Forms
| feminine | chaa8ida |
|---|---|
| plural | cho8oud |
| feminine plural | chaa8idat |
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chahed” but also “chahid”, “cha8ed”, “cha8id”, “shahed” and “chaa8id”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.
Type “chahed” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “witness (of an event, an act)”; “court witness”: chahed in Algerian.