blassa بلاصة
Algerian Darja · noun
“blassa” (بلاصة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning place, spot.
Meanings
- place, spot
- free space, seat
- position, job
Usage
Blassa is a borrowing from French "place", adapted to darja. It is a very common word throughout Algeria. It refers to a location ("f had lblassa", in this place), an available space on a bus, in a room or in a training course ("kayen blassa ?", is there room?), and sometimes a job. "Blasstek", your place, is also used to mean "in your place": "lukan kont f blasstek". The plural is blayes. It is also spelled blasa, with a single s. Unlike the French word, it does not mean a public square.
Example
كاين بلاصة فالطوبيس؟
kayen blassa fe tobis?
“Is there room on the bus?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “blassa” but also “blasa”, “plassa” and “blaassa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “blassa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “place, location”; “room (seat, free space)”: blasa in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “place, spot”; “seat, position”: blasa in Tunisian.