k7el كحل
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“k7el” (كحل) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning black (colour).
Meanings
- black (colour)
- dark, ill-fated (figurative)
Usage
Common colour adjective for “black”. The feminine is k7la. Like other colours, it goes after the noun: ch3er k7el (black hair), tomobil k7la (black car). Figuratively, it describes what is unfortunate or ill-omened, for example nhar k7el (a black day). The same root gives l-k7ol, the kohl worn around the eyes. Used of skin, it can come across as tactless depending on the context. The usual opposite is byed (white).
Example
عندو شعر كحل
3ndo ch3er K7el
“He has black hair.”
Forms
| feminine | k7la |
|---|---|
| plural | k7lin |
| feminine plural | k7lat |
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 “k7el” but also “k7al”, “k7l” and “kahel”. 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 “k7el” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “black (colour)”; “dark-skinned (of a person)”: k7al in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written اكحل, where it means “black (color)”; “dark, wicked (heart)”: ak7el in Tunisian.