jwab جواب
Algerian Darja · noun
“jwab” (جواب) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning answer, reply.
Meanings
- answer, reply
- letter, mail (old usage)
Usage
Jwab is the usual word for "answer": "ma 3tanich jwab", "he didn't answer me"; "7ab ndir jwab", "I want an answer". The expression "la khbar la jwab" means "no news at all", said of someone who no longer gives any sign of life. Among older generations, jwab also means a letter sent by post, a sense less heard today. The corresponding verb is "jaweb", to answer. The plural "ajwiba" belongs to the academic register.
Example
بعثتلو ميساج وما عطانيش جواب
b3athtlou message w ma 3tanich jwab
“I sent him a message and he didn't give me an answer.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jwab” but also “jawab”, “djwab”, “jouab” and “jweb”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “jwab” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “answer, response”; “letter, mail”: jawab in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “answer, reply”; “letter, mail”: jweb in Tunisian.