chnag شنق

Tunisian Derja · noun

“chnag” (شنق) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning hanging (execution by rope).

Meanings

1. hanging (execution by rope)
2. act of hanging someone

Usage

Chnag refers to hanging, especially as capital punishment. The word often appears in indignant phrases demanding exemplary punishment: yestahel echnag, "he deserves hanging." The corresponding verb is chnag / yochnog, "to hang." The reflexive form tchannag or etchnag means "to hang oneself" or "to be hanged." In everyday conversation, the word is often a furious exaggeration rather than a genuine wish. Note: chnag is not used for hanging up an object. To hang up a piece of clothing or a picture, say allag.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chnag” but also “chne9”, “chnaq”, “chang” and “shnag”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.

Type “chnag” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to hang someone”; “hanging”: chne9 in Moroccan.