sayeb سايب
Algerian Darja · adjective
“sayeb” (سايب) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning loose, left unattended.
Meanings
- loose, left unattended
- plentiful, found everywhere
- lawless, unregulated
Usage
Sayeb (feminine sayba, plural saybin) describes what has been let loose or left to itself: an untied animal, an unsupervised child, a door left open. By extension, it is used for something found everywhere, in large quantities, often cheaply: "this product is sayeb at the market". The feminine used as a noun, sayba, also means disorder, the absence of rules, as in "bled sayba" or "rahi sayba". The tone is often critical, when complaining about laxity. The word is casual and very common in speech. Depending on context, it can therefore mean "abandoned" or "abundant".
Example
الكلب سايب في الزنقة، ما عندو حتى مول.
el kelb sayeb fi zenqa, ma 3andou hatta moul.
“The dog is loose in the street, it has no owner.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sayeb” but also “saib”, “sayb”, “sayba” and “saiba”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “sayeb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “letting go, leaving”; “left unattended, loose”: sayeb in Tunisian.