7okka حكة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“7okka” (حكة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning box, container.
Meanings
- box, container
- tin, can
- itch (pronounced 7akka)
Usage
Pronounced 7okka, the word means a box or small container, in metal or plastic: 7okka plastique, "plastic box". It is very often used for tinned food and cans: 7okkat tmatem, "tin of tomato paste", or 7okkat birra, "can of beer". The plural is 7kek. Written the same way but pronounced 7akka, the word means "itch": 3andi 7akka, "I'm itching". Since Arabic script does not write the vowels, context is what distinguishes the two words.
Example
جيبلي حكة طماطم من الحانوت.
jibli 7okkat tmatem mel 7anout.
“Bring me a tin of tomato paste from the shop.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7okka” but also “hokka”, “7oka”, “7akka” and “hakka”. 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 “7okka” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “itch”; “metal box, tin can”: 7ekka in Moroccan.