3arbi عربي
Algerian Darja · adjective
“3arbi” (عربي) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning Arab (person, language).
Meanings
- Arab (person, language)
- traditional, local, homemade
- Arabic-speaking (as opposed to Berber-speaking)
Usage
3arbi means "Arab". The feminine is 3arbiya and the plural is 3rab. In Algeria, it is often used to distinguish Arabic speakers from Berber speakers. Bel3arbiya means "in Arabic", and often refers to darja rather than literary Arabic. One sense specific to everyday usage is important: applied to a product, 3arbi means "traditional", "local" or "free-range". So you hear djaj 3arbi for free-range chicken, dwa 3arbi for a traditional remedy and khobz 3arbi for homemade bread. The word is then the opposite of roumi, which means industrial or imported.
Example
شريت دجاج عربي من السوق.
chrit djadj 3arbi mel souq.
“I bought free-range chicken at the market.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3arbi” but also “arbi”, “3rbi”, “aarbi” and “3arabi”. 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 “3arbi” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “Arab (person, origin)”; “Arabic (language, culture)”: 3rbi in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “Arab, Arabic”; “traditional, local”: 3arbi in Tunisian.