lagmi لاقمي
Algerian Darja · noun
“lagmi” (لاقمي) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning date palm sap, drunk fresh.
Meanings
- date palm sap, drunk fresh
- fermented drink made from this sap
Usage
Lagmi is the sap collected by tapping the heart of a date palm. It is drunk fresh, sweet and slightly milky. It is a word of the oases of the Algerian South, in particular the Souf and the Zibans: in the North, many speakers know it without ever having drunk it. Left for a few hours in the sun, the sap ferments and becomes alcoholic. The same word can then refer to this drink, which can create ambiguity depending on the context. People say lagmi frais or lagmi tayeb. It should not be confused with jmar, the edible heart of the palm.
Example
شربنا لاقمي بارد في الواحة.
chrebna lagmi bared fel waha.
“We drank nice cold lagmi in the oasis.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lagmi” but also “legmi”, “lagmy” and “laqmi”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.