char شر
Tunisian Derja · noun
“char” (شر) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning evil, wickedness.
Meanings
- evil, wickedness
- misfortune, trouble
- wicked (fih char)
Usage
Char means evil, both in the moral sense and in the sense of misfortune. It appears in many protective formulas: rabbi ib3ed 3lina ech-char ("may God keep evil away from us") or ma ychoufech char ("may he see no harm"). Of a person, fih char means "he is wicked, he looks for trouble". Char is the opposite of khir (good) in fixed pairs such as fel khir w ech-char, "in good and in evil". Common register, often tinged with religiosity.
Example
ربّي يبعد علينا الشرّ
rabbi ib3ed 3lina ech-char
“May God keep evil away from us.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “char” but also “cher”, “chàr”, “shar” and “chr”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “char” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “evil, wickedness”; “misfortune, trouble”: cherr in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “evil, what is bad”; “misfortune, danger”: char in Algerian.