lsan لسان
Algerian Darja · noun
“lsan” (لسان) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning tongue (organ).
Meanings
- tongue (organ)
- speech, way of speaking
Usage
Lsan refers first to the organ in the mouth. By extension, it refers to speech and manner of speaking. Lsanou twil (his tongue is long) describes someone insolent or slanderous. 3endou lsan means he knows how to talk, he has the gift of the gab. For a language in the sense of "tongue" (French, Arabic), lugha or lougha is used instead. So the double meaning of the English word should not be carried over. The usual pronunciation is lsan, with the first vowel very reduced.
Example
حرقت لساني بالقهوة
hra9t lsani bel 9ahwa
“I burned my tongue with the coffee.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lsan” but also “lssan”, “lisan” and “lsane”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “lsan” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “tongue (organ)”; “language, way of speaking”: lsan in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “tongue (organ)”; “tongue (of a shoe)”: lsen in Tunisian.