khyar خيار
Tunisian Derja · noun
“khyar” (خيار) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning cucumber.
Meanings
- cucumber
- choice, option
Usage
Khyar means cucumber, which is very present in Tunisian cooking. It is found in the salade tounsia and as a side. It is a collective noun. To talk about a single cucumber, one says khyara. The same word also exists, of learned origin, with the meaning of "choice". This is the case in ma3andich khyar ("I have no choice") or ma fammech khyar ekher ("there is no other choice"). In this sense, it is used mainly in negative constructions. Only context makes it possible to tell the two senses apart, one culinary and the other abstract.
Example
قص الخيار والطماطم للسلاطة.
9oss el khyar wel tmatem lel slata.
“Cut the cucumber and the tomatoes for the salad.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khyar” but also “5yar”, “khiyar”, “5iyar” and “khiar”. 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 “khyar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “cucumbers (collective)”; “choice, the best (of)”: khyar in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “cucumber”; “the best, the elite (khiyar ennas)”: khiyar in Algerian.