3otla عطلة
Algerian Darja · noun
“3otla” (عطلة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning holiday, vacation.
Meanings
- holiday, vacation
- leave, day off
Usage
3otla refers to school or work holidays, or to leave. Common expressions: "3otla sifia", the summer holidays, and "3otla chtawia", the winter ones. People also say "ja f 3otla", he came on holiday, about emigrants returning to the home country. The plural is 3otal. In conversation, French "vacances" (pronounced "vacance") is at least as common, especially in the city. Still, 3otla remains the usual term in writing and in the media. The register is neutral.
Example
في العطلة نروحو للبحر.
f el 3otla nrouhou lel bhar.
“During the holidays, we go to the sea.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3otla” but also “otla”, “3outla” and “3otal”. 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 “3otla” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “holiday, vacation, leave”; “public holiday, day off”: 3otla in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “holiday, time off”; “public holiday, day off”: 3otla in Tunisian.