3ayla عايلة
Algerian Darja · noun
“3ayla” (عايلة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning family, relatives.
Meanings
- family, relatives
- household, home
Usage
3ayla is the usual word for family in the broad sense: parents, siblings, uncles, cousins. People often say l3ayla ta3i or 3aylti for "my family". It is also used for a household, as in "start a family" (ydir 3ayla). Ouled familia refers to people from a good family, well brought up, but 3ayla remains the neutral, everyday term. The word is feminine and takes the article: l3ayla. To refer more specifically to one's close ones, lahl or ddar are also used. Latin spellings vary a lot.
Example
نهار الجمعة نتلاقاو ڨاع العايلة عند جدي.
nhar ljem3a ntla9aw ga3 l3ayla 3and jeddi.
“On Fridays, the whole family gets together at my grandfather's.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3ayla” but also “3aila”, “3ayela” and “aila”. 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 “3ayla” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
The same word also exists in Moroccan Darija, written عائلة, where it means “family”; “good family, respectable lineage”: 3a2ila in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “family”; “extended family, lineage”: 3ayla in Tunisian.