djbel جبل
Algerian Darja · noun
“djbel” (جبل) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning mountain.
Meanings
- mountain
- mountain range
Usage
Djbel means a mountain or a massif. Its plural is jbal. It is found in many place names and names of mountain ranges, and in expressions such as tla3 lel djbel (go up the mountain). During the war of liberation, "going up to the djebel" meant joining the maquis. This historical sense is still well known. Figuratively, it is used for something enormous or for a solid person: kima el djbel (like a mountain). The word djebel has passed into French with this meaning. The register is neutral.
Example
طلعنا للجبل نهار الجمعة
tla3na lel djbel nhar ejjem3a
“We went up to the mountain on Friday.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “djbel” but also “jbel”, “djebel”, “jbal” and “djbal”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “djbel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “mountain”; “the mountains (region)”: jbel in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “mountain”; “hill, massif (in place names)”: jbal in Tunisian.