qandil قنديل
Algerian Darja · noun
“qandil” (قنديل) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning oil lamp, lantern.
Meanings
- oil lamp, lantern
- chandelier, hanging lamp
Usage
Qandil means the traditional oil or wick lamp that was hung or placed in the house before electricity. Today the word has an old-fashioned or nostalgic feel. For an ordinary bulb or electric lamp, people say lamba or dhaw instead. It is also found in a religious or poetic register, for the light of a mosque or a shrine. It is also a family name and the name of a fictional character: in online comments, it often refers to a person rather than the object.
Example
جدّتي كانت تشعل القنديل كي يطفى الضو.
Jeddti kanet tech3el el qandil ki yetfa edhaw.
“My grandmother used to light the oil lamp when the power went out.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “qandil” but also “kandil”, “9andil”, “gandil” and “qendil”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “qandil” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “oil lamp, night light”; “lantern, chandelier”: 9endil in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “oil lamp, lantern”; “jellyfish (9andil lebhar)”: 9andil in Tunisian.