sodfa صدفة
Algerian Darja · noun
“sodfa” (صدفة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning chance, coincidence.
Meanings
- chance, coincidence
- by chance (b sodfa)
Usage
Sodfa means chance or a fortuitous encounter. It is used mainly in adverbial phrases: "b sodfa" or simply "sodfa" placed after the verb, meaning "by chance": "lqitou sodfa", "I ran into him by chance". One also says "kanet sodfa" for "it was a coincidence". The word is neutral and is used in speech and writing, in all registers. The common pronunciation in Algeria often has an o (sodfa), whereas in writing sadfa is also found. The word is not used as a verb: to say "run into someone", one rather uses "lqa" or "tsadef".
Example
لقيتو صدفة في السوق
l9itou sodfa f souq
“I ran into him by chance at the market.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sodfa” but also “sadfa”, “sudfa” and “s9dfa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “sodfa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “chance, coincidence”: sodfa in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “chance, coincidence”; “by chance (bes-sodfa)”: sodfa in Tunisian.