sif صيف
Algerian Darja · noun
“sif” (صيف) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning summer (season).
Meanings
- summer (season)
Usage
The word sif is the usual term for the hot season. One says fe sif or fes-sif (in summer) and kol sif (every summer). The word evokes holidays, the beach, weddings and the return of emigrants to the home country. The article is often assimilated in speech: es-sif. The adjective sifi (summery) exists but is less common. For the heat itself, sehd or hmou are used instead. The register is neutral and the word is used in all regions.
Example
كل صيف نروحو للبلاد
kol sif nrouhou lel blad
“Every summer, we go back home.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sif” but also “sayf”, “seif”, “syf” and “saif”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “sif” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “summer (season)”; “summer holidays”: sif in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written الصيف, where it means “summer (season)”: sif in Tunisian.