sekhen سخّن
Moroccan Darija · verb
“sekhen” (سخّن) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to heat, warm up.
Meanings
- to heat, warm up
- to get angry
Usage
Sekhkhen is transitive and means to heat or warm up something. It is used for food, water or the oven: sekhkhen l-ma (heat the water), sekhkhen l-makla (reheat the meal). Figuratively, sekhkhen 3lih rasu means "to get worked up, to lose one's temper". The intransitive sense of "to become hot" belongs to another form, sekhon or sekhn, found in sekhn l-7al (it's hot). The related noun is skhana (heat, fever). Be sure to double the kh when speaking for the transitive sense.
Example
سير سخن غداك
sir sekhen ghdak
“Go heat up your lunch.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanskhkhen | skhkhent | |
| nta (you, m.) | katskhkhen | skhkhenti | skhkhen |
| nti (you, f.) | katskhkhni | skhkhenti | skhkhni |
| howa (he) | kayskhkhen | skhkhen | |
| hiya (she) | katskhkhen | skhkhnat | |
| 7na (we) | kanskhkhno | skhkhnna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katskhkhno | skhkhnto | skhkhno |
| homa (they) | kayskhkhno | skhkhno |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sekhen” but also “skhen”, “s55en”, “skhkhen” and “sakhen”. 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 “sekhen” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to get hot, warm up”; “to heat, warm up (something)”: skhen in Tunisian.