chkara شكارة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“chkara” (شكارة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning large sack, canvas or jute bag.
Meanings
- large sack, canvas or jute bag
- bag (plastic or paper) in general
- small bag
Usage
Chkara mainly means a large, sturdy sack: a jute or canvas sack, or a sack of semolina, flour or charcoal (chkara fham). It is often sold as a unit of measure: chkara smid, "a sack of semolina". For a small plastic bag, people more readily say mika or sachet. The expression qattous fi chkara, "a cat in a sack", means buying or accepting something without having seen it. The usual plural is chkayer. The word is informal and widely used in trade and at home.
Example
هز الشكارة للكوجينة
hez echkara lel koujina
“Carry the sack to the kitchen.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chkara” but also “shkara”, “chkaraa” and “chkarra”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find شكارة and شكاره, all the same word.
Type “chkara” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “bag (plastic, school bag, satchel)”; “money, funding (figurative, moul chkara)”: chkara in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “bag (plastic, shopping)”; “bag, sack (burlap)”: chkara in Algerian.