belgha بلغة
Algerian Darja · noun
“belgha” (بلغة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning babouche, indoor slipper.
Meanings
- babouche, indoor slipper
- slipper, house shoe
Usage
Belgha (or bligha) refers to the light, heel-less shoe worn at home; it is also the traditional leather babouche. The plural is blaye3. The word is common in family speech: "jibli belghti" (bring me my slippers). Pitfall in writing: the same Arabic spelling is often read b-lugha, "in language" ("b-lugha 3arbiya", in Arabic), which is in fact the most frequent use of this sequence of letters online. Only context can decide between the shoe and this prepositional phrase.
Example
وين حطيت البلغة تاعي؟
win 7tit el belgha ta3i?
“Where did you put my slipper?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “belgha” but also “bligha”, “balgha”, “blgha” and “belra”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “belgha” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “babouche, traditional slipper”: belgha in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “babouche, traditional leather slipper”: belgha in Tunisian.