dlala الدلالة
Algerian Darja · noun
“dlala” (الدلالة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning flea market, secondhand market.
Meanings
- flea market, secondhand market
- public auction
- informal market, black-market sale
Usage
In Algeria, dlala refers to the market where secondhand goods are sold: clothes, furniture, utensils. This trade is often informal. The word also evokes the public auction, where an auctioneer (dellal) calls out prices to the highest bidder: yetba3 fel dlala ("it is sold at auction"). By extension, dlala is used for a parallel market or a sale with no legal framework. The word sometimes carries a pejorative nuance when someone is accused of selling off cheaply what does not belong to them.
Example
شريت هاد الطابلة من الدلالة بسومة رخيصة
chrit had tabla men dlala b souma rkhissa
“I bought this table at the flea market, for a cheap price.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dlala” but also “ddlala”, “edlala” and “dlalla”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.