sre7 سرح
Moroccan Darija · verb
“sre7” (سرح) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to take livestock out to graze.
Meanings
- to take livestock out to graze
- to wander, roam
Usage
Sre7 first denotes the shepherd's action of taking the animals out to graze: you say sre7 b lghnem, "to take the sheep out to pasture." The shepherd is called sarre7 or sarba7 depending on the region. By extension, the verb evokes going far away, wandering in the countryside. Be careful not to confuse it with the intensive form serre7, which means "to comb" (serre7 cha3rek, "comb your hair") or "to release, let someone go." The register is common, especially rural, but the word is understood everywhere.
Example
باه كيسرح بالغنم كل صباح
bah kaysre7 b lghnem kol sba7
“His father takes the sheep out to graze every morning.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kansre7 | sre7t | |
| nta (you, m.) | katsre7 | sre7ti | sre7 |
| nti (you, f.) | katsr7i | sre7ti | sr7i |
| howa (he) | kaysre7 | sre7 | |
| hiya (she) | katsre7 | sr7at | |
| 7na (we) | kansr7o | sr7na | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katsr7o | sr7to | sr7o |
| homa (they) | kaysr7o | sr7o |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sre7” but also “sra7”, “sreh” and “sr7”. 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 “sre7” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to release, let go, set free”; “to take the herd out to graze”: sarra7 in Tunisian.