ghar غار
Moroccan Darija · noun
“ghar” (غار) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning cave, cavern.
Meanings
- cave, cavern
- hole, hollow
Usage
Ghar means a natural cave or cavern, in the mountains or by the sea. The common plural is ghiran. The word can also mean, more colloquially, a hole or a deep recess. It appears in place names, which are then capitalized. Do not confuse it with the verb ghar ("to be jealous"), which has the same form in the perfect: "ghar mennu" (he was jealous of him). Context tells the two words apart: a place on one side, a feeling on the other.
Example
دخلنا لواحد الغار حدا البحر
dkhelna l wa7ed lghar 7da lb7er
“We went into a cave near the sea.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ghar” but also “ghaar”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “ghar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “cave, cavern”; “hole, hollow”: ghar in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “cave, cavern”; “hole, burrow”: ghar in Tunisian.