melyoun مليون
Algerian Darja · numeral
“melyoun” (مليون) is a numeral in Algerian Darja meaning million.
Meanings
- million
- ten thousand dinars (a million centimes)
Usage
Melyoun means "million". It is used to count views, followers or inhabitants: melyoun mtab3a, melyoun w noss chahid. In prices and salaries, Algerians commonly count in centimes: a melyoun then means a million centimes, that is, ten thousand dinars. So khamsa melyoun means fifty thousand dinars. This is a classic trap for learners and the diaspora, who must rely on context to know whether dinars or centimes are meant. Above ten, melyoun is used in the singular (3achrin melyoun), and from three to ten the plural mlayen is used.
Example
شريت تيليفون بخمسة مليون
chrit telephone b khamsa melyoun
“I bought a phone for fifty thousand dinars.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “melyoun” but also “malyoun”, “mlyoun”, “milyoun” and “million”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “melyoun” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “million”; “million centimes (ten thousand dirhams)”: mlyoun in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “million”; “a thousand dinars (counting in millimes)”: melyoun in Tunisian.