7nach حنش
Tunisian Derja · noun
“7nach” (حنش) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning snake.
Meanings
- snake
- sneaky, treacherous person
Usage
Common word for "snake", with no distinction of species. It appears in compounds: "7nach el b7ar" (a kind of eel or moray), "7nach essa7ra" (desert snake). Figuratively, calling someone a "7nach" means they are cunning, dangerous or treacherous, like "viper" in English. The usual plural is "7nouch". The first letter is a guttural h, written "7" in arabizi, and not a soft h. In Tunisian Arabic, it is the most commonly used everyday word for this animal.
Example
رد بالك، فما حنش في الجنان.
red belek, famma 7nach fel jnen.
“Be careful, there's a snake in the garden.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7nach” but also “7nech”, “hnach”, “hnech” and “7anach”. 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 “7nach” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “snake”; “sly, treacherous person (figurative)”: 7nech in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “snake”; “sly, treacherous person”: hnech in Algerian.