melyar مليار
Algerian Darja · numeral
“melyar” (مليار) is a numeral in Algerian Darja meaning billion.
Meanings
- billion
- ten million dinars (counted in centimes)
- countless (hyperbole)
Usage
Melyar means "billion". With money there is a pitfall: in everyday usage in Algeria, people count in centimes. A melyar therefore means a billion centimes, i.e. ten million dinars, not a billion dinars. Likewise, a melyoun is worth ten thousand dinars. This is the usual way of talking about the price of a car or a home. The word is also used for exaggeration: melyar khetra means "a thousand times". The plural is mlayer.
Example
شرا طوموبيل بزوج مليار
chra tomobil b zouj melyar
“He bought a car for twenty million dinars (two billion centimes).”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “melyar” but also “milyar” and “mlyar”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “melyar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “billion”; “billion centimes (ten million dirhams)”: mlyar in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “billion”; “billion millimes (sum of money)”: milyar in Tunisian.