lefet لفت
Algerian Darja · noun
“lefet” (لفت) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning turnip.
Meanings
- turnip
Usage
Lefet means turnip, a common vegetable at the market and in cooking. It is added to chorba, couscous or certain sauces, and is also eaten pickled. The word is used as a collective noun: chrit lefet ("I bought turnips"). It should not be confused with the homographic verb lfet, from standard Arabic, which appears in the expression lfet l'intibah ("to draw attention"). This verb is frequent in written comments but belongs to a formal register. In unvowelled writing, only context distinguishes the two.
Example
شريت اللفت باش ندير الشوربة
chrit lefet bach ndir chorba
“I bought turnips to make chorba.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lefet” but also “left”, “lfet”, “lift” and “laft”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.