skendjbir سكنجبير
Algerian Darja · noun
“skendjbir” (سكنجبير) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning ginger.
Meanings
- ginger
Usage
Skendjbir is the usual name for ginger in Algeria. It is often found as a powder at the grocer's or herbalist's. It goes into dishes with sauce, soups, certain pastries, and into grandmother's remedies for colds or sore throats. There is also the variant skendjbin, and one sometimes hears zandjabil, closer to Standard Arabic. The word does not refer to turmeric (kherkoum) or cinnamon (qerfa), with which it is often stored. It belongs to everyday cooking vocabulary.
Example
زيدي شوية سكنجبير في الشربة.
zidi chwiya skendjbir fi chorba.
“Add a little ginger to the chorba.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “skendjbir” but also “skenjbir”, “skendjebir” and “sekenjbir”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.