hadd هد
Tunisian Derja · verb
“hadd” (هد) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to demolish, knock down (wall, house).
Meanings
- to demolish, knock down (wall, house)
- to swoop down on, descend on
- to land (bird)
Usage
Hadd (imperfect yhedd) first means to demolish or knock down a structure: you hadd a wall, an old house. Constructed with 3la, it takes the sense of swooping down on or descending on something, said of a bird, a storm or a group of people. It can also describe a bird landing. The register is common, colloquial. The pitfall is failing to recognize the same verb behind these senses: the preposition and the context guide the reading. The verbal noun hadd or the participle mahdoud (demolished) are also found.
Example
هدّو الدار القديمة وبناو بلاصتها عمارة
haddou ed-dar el9dima w bnew blasetha 3mara
“They demolished the old house and built an apartment building in its place.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hadd” but also “had”, “hedd” and “hed”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.