rbi3 ربيع
Algerian Darja · noun
“rbi3” (ربيع) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning spring (season).
Meanings
- spring (season)
- grass, greenery
Usage
Rbi3 means spring: fsel rbi3 (the spring season). In the Algerian countryside it also means fresh grass, the greenery that grows after rain, which sheep graze on. This sense is very much alive in rural areas. In a common religious expression, the Quran is called "the spring of hearts". The word is also a male given name, Rabie, not to be confused with the common noun. For "green, lush", people say khdar instead. The register is everyday.
Example
جا الربيع والجو ولّى شباب
ja rbi3 w ljaw wella chbab
“Spring has come and the weather is nice.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rbi3” but also “rabi3”, “rebi3”, “errbi3” and “rbi3a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find ربيع and الربيع, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “rbi3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “grass, greenery, green fodder”; “spring”: rbi3 in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written الربيع, where it means “spring (season)”; “grass, greenery”: rbi3 in Tunisian.