khyar خيار
Moroccan Darija · noun
“khyar” (خيار) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning cucumbers (collective).
Meanings
- cucumbers (collective)
- choice, the best (of)
Usage
Khyar refers to the cucumber. It is a collective noun: "lkhyar" for cucumbers in general, "khyara" for a single one. It is found in Moroccan salads, notably with tomato and onion, or in a sweet-and-sour salad. More rarely, a homonym means "the choice, the best" in expressions such as "khyar nnas" (the best of people), in a more formal or religious register. Remember that the singular form khyara is needed for counting: "jouj khyarat" (two cucumbers).
Example
قطع الخيار والماطيشة للشلاضة
qatta3 lkhyar w lmatecha l chlada
“Cut the cucumbers and tomatoes for the salad.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khyar” but also “khiar”, “5yar”, “5iar” and “khyaar”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khyar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “cucumber”; “the best, the elite (khiyar ennas)”: khiyar in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “cucumber”; “choice, option”: khyar in Tunisian.