saboun صابون
Algerian Darja · noun
“saboun” (صابون) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning soap.
Meanings
- soap
- detergent, washing product
Usage
Saboun is the common word for soap, in all registers. The type is often specified: saboun l'hajra or saboun ta3 l'hajra (bar soap, Marseille soap), saboun ta3 l'ma3en (dish soap). In everyday speech, saboun can also mean a detergent in general. For shampoo or shower gel, the French words are used instead. Colloquial expression: 3tah saboun, "he gave him a soaping", meaning to scold, close to the French sense. The word is masculine.
Example
غسل يديك بالصابون قبل ما تاكل
ghsel yeddik b saboun 9bel ma takoul
“Wash your hands with soap before eating.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “saboun” but also “sabon”, “saboune” and “sabun”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “saboun” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “soap”; “laundry detergent, washing product”: saboun in Tunisian.