madrasa مدرسة
Algerian Darja · noun
“madrasa” (مدرسة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning school.
Meanings
- school
- school, benchmark (figurative)
Usage
Madrsa means school, especially primary school, but also a school institution in general. In conversation, it coexists with the French loanword "likoul" (school), which is also very frequent. Figuratively, a quality artist or programme is called "madrsa" (a school, a benchmark), as in "madrsa f t-tamthil" (a school of acting). The plural is mdares. People say "rah l-madrsa" (he went to school), "yeqra f l-madrsa" (he is in school). The common pronunciation often reduces the vowel: medrsa.
Example
وليدي يقرا في مدرسة قريبة للدار
wlidi yeqra f madrsa qriba l dar
“My son studies at a school near the house.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “madrasa” but also “medrsa”, “madrsa”, “mdrsa” and “medrasa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “madrasa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “school, educational institution”; “traditional Quranic school”: mdrasa in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “school, especially primary”; “school (movement, method)”: madrsa in Tunisian.