rawda روضة
Algerian Darja · noun
“rawda” (روضة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning kindergarten, nursery.
Meanings
- kindergarten, nursery
- garden (of paradise), religious language
Usage
Rawda commonly refers to the establishment that takes in little children before school, a nursery or kindergarten. For example, nweddi weldi lel rawda, "I take my son to nursery". The word also appears very often in a religious condolence formula: Allah yej3el qabrou rawda min riyad el jenna, "may God make his grave one of the gardens of paradise". In this second use, it is a set expression of classical origin. In daily life, the "nursery" sense dominates, even though the French word crèche is also heard a lot.
Example
كل صباح نديّ بنتي للروضة قبل ما نروح للخدمة.
koul sbah neddi benti lel rawda 9bel ma nrouh lel khedma.
“Every morning I take my daughter to nursery before going to work.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rawda” but also “rawdha”, “raoudha” and “raouda”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “rawda” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “kindergarten, nursery school”; “garden (formal register)”: rawdha in Tunisian.