khobz خبز
Algerian Darja · noun
“khobz” (خبز) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning bread.
Meanings
- bread
- livelihood, daily bread
Usage
Khobz means bread in general. A distinction is made between khobz eddar, homemade bread, often made with semolina, and bakery bread, commonly called baguette or khobz tal boulanger. Figuratively, khobz refers to subsistence: yejri 3la khobzo, "he runs after his bread", is said of someone who works hard to make a living. Bread has strong symbolic value: people avoid throwing it away and pick up a piece that has fallen on the ground. The word is masculine and is often used without an article as an uncountable noun.
Example
شريت جوج خبزات من عند البولونجي
chrit zouj khobzat men 3and boulanji
“I bought two loaves of bread from the baker's.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khobz” but also “5obz” and “khoubz”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khobz” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “bread”; “livelihood, means of subsistence”: khobz in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “bread”; “livelihood, daily bread”: 5obz in Tunisian.