3alem عالم
Algerian Darja · noun
“3alem” (عالم) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning world.
Meanings
- world
- God knows (rabbi 3alem)
- scholar, learned person
Usage
With the article, l3alem means the world: f l3alem ("in the world"), ga3 l3alem ("the whole world", sometimes "everyone"). The same spelling also covers the participle 3alem ("who knows"), especially in the phrase rabbi 3alem ("God knows", "only God knows"). This phrase expresses ignorance or doubt, and sometimes serves to call God as witness. In the sense of "scholar" or "learned religious figure", 3alem belongs to a more formal register. For "people", ennas is used instead.
Example
دار الدورة تع العالم
dar ddoura ta3 l3alem
“He went around the world.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3alem” but also “alem” and “3alam”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “3alem” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “world, universe”; “world, sphere ("the world of…")”: 3alam in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “world, universe”; “people (ya 3alem!)”: 3alem in Tunisian.