adab ادب
Algerian Darja · noun
“adab” (ادب) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning politeness, good manners.
Meanings
- politeness, good manners
- literature
Usage
In everyday language, adab mainly means politeness and the respect owed to others. It is often heard in reproaches: qellet l'adab, "rudeness, lack of respect", or ma 3andouch l'adab, "he has no manners". In the sense of "literature", the word comes from school and university vocabulary: adab 3arbi, "Arabic letters", as a field of study. The politeness sense is by far the most frequent in speech. The literary sense belongs to a more formal register.
Example
هدر معاه بالأدب، راهو كبير عليك
hder m3ah bel adab, rah kbir 3lik
“Speak to him politely, he is older than you.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “adab” but also “adeb”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “adab” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “politeness, good manners”; “literature”: adab in Moroccan.