selk سلك
Algerian Darja · noun
“selk” (سلك) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning wire, metal wire.
Meanings
- wire, metal wire
- professional corps (formal register)
Usage
Selk means a wire, especially a metal one: iron wire, electrical wire, cable. One says selk ta3 trisinti for an electrical wire, but many people also use the French "fil". The plural is slouk or aslak. In a more formal register, borrowed from standard Arabic, selk also denotes a professional corps (selk ech-chorta, the police; selk et-ta3lim, the teaching profession). Pitfall: the same root gives the verb slek, very common in Darja, meaning "to get by, to get out of trouble" (slekt, I got out of it); do not confuse it with the noun.
Example
جيبلي شوية سلك باش نربط الباب.
jibli chwiya selk bach norbot el bab.
“Bring me a bit of wire to tie the door.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “selk” but also “slek”, “salk” and “silk”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “selk” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “metal wire”; “electric cable”: selk in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “wire, cable”; “corps (professional or administrative)”: selk in Tunisian.