mok7la مكحلة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“mok7la” (مكحلة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning traditional rifle (fantasia).
Meanings
- traditional rifle (fantasia)
- wearing kohl eyeliner (mke7la)
Usage
Mok7la means the rifle, especially the long black-powder rifle of the tbourida (fantasia). The riders fire it together at the end of the charge. The plural is mkahel. The word is also used for a hunting rifle. With a different vocalisation, mke7la is the feminine participle of ke7el, "to put on kohl". It then means "made up with kohl, with eyes outlined". It is often found in songs and descriptions of women. In writing the two words look identical; only context tells them apart.
Example
الخيالة طلقو المكاحل ف التبوريدة
lkhyala tal9o lmkahel f tbourida
“The riders fired the rifles during the tbourida.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mok7la” but also “mk7la” and “mke7la”. 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 “mok7la” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “rifle, firearm”; “traditional fantasia musket”: mok7la in Algerian.