bidoun بيدون
Algerian Darja · noun
“bidoun” (بيدون) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning jerrycan, container.
Meanings
- jerrycan, container
- bucket
Usage
Bidoun is an adapted loanword from French and is very common. It refers to a can or jerrycan, usually plastic, used to carry water, oil or fuel. Depending on the region, it can also mean a bucket. For example: "bidoun ta3 lma" ("water can") or "bidoun zit" ("oil can"). The plural is bidounat or bwaden. Pitfall: in writing, the same spelling also matches the Standard Arabic word bidoun, meaning "without" (for example "bidoun mounazi3", "undisputedly"). Context tells the two apart.
Example
روح عمر البيدون بالما
rouh 3ammer el bidoun bel ma
“Go fill the jerrycan with water.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bidoun” but also “bidon” and “bidoune”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bidoun” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “jerrycan, can”; “large plastic bottle”: bidoun in Tunisian.