rabbi رب

Algerian Darja · noun

“rabbi” (رب) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning God, the Lord.

Meanings

1. God, the Lord

Usage

Rabb refers to God as Lord. In darja it appears mostly as rabbi (my Lord, God), very common in blessings and good wishes: "rabbi y7afdek" (may God protect you), "rabbi ykhallik", "ya rabbi". The bare form rab belongs more to standard Arabic or religious writing. In invocations, people say "ya rabb" or "ya rabbi". The word is respectful and ubiquitous in everyday thanks and wishes.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rabbi” but also “rabi”, “rab” and “rebbi”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “rabbi” on the Arabic keyboard

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “God, the Lord”; “master, head (of a household)”: rabi in Tunisian.