khich خيش
Tunisian Derja · noun
“khich” (خيش) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning burlap, coarse cloth.
Meanings
- burlap, coarse cloth
- burlap sack
Usage
Khich refers to coarse, rough cloth, usually jute, used to make sacks for grain, coal or potatoes. It is heard mostly in farming contexts, at the market, or about household chores. One says for example "kis khich" or "chkara mta3 khich" for a jute sack. By extension, the word can evoke a coarse, poor-quality fabric. The singulative khicha means a sack or a piece of this cloth. Do not confuse this word with khech, "he entered".
Example
حطّ البطاطا في شكارة خيش
7ot el batata fi chkara khich
“Put the potatoes in a burlap sack.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khich” but also “5ich”, “khiche” and “5iche”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khich” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “burlap, coarse jute cloth”; “jute sack”: khich in Moroccan.