sbadri سبادري

Algerian Darja · noun

“sbadri” (سبادري) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning espadrille, light canvas shoe.

Meanings

1. espadrille, light canvas shoe
2. canvas sneaker

Usage

An adapted borrowing of French "espadrille", very common in Algerian speech. The word refers to a light, soft, cheap canvas shoe, worn in summer or around the house. By extension, it is also applied to canvas sneakers. It is used like an ordinary noun: zouj sbadri, "a pair of espadrilles". The register is informal and everyday. For an English speaker, the word covers a wider range than the rope-soled espadrille: any simple canvas shoe can be called sbadri.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sbadri” but also “spadri”, “sbadrii” and “espadri”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “sbadri” on the Arabic keyboard

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “sneakers, sports shoes”: sbedri in Tunisian.