souk سوق
Algerian Darja · noun
“souk” (سوق) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning market, souk.
Meanings
- market, souk
- business, one's own affair
Usage
Souk is the market, covered or open-air, where you buy vegetables, meat or clothes: rouht les-souk (I went to the market). It is often specified by day or specialty, as in souk el-khedra (vegetable market). The word appears in many place names, for example Souk Ahras. Figuratively, machi soukek means "it's none of your business", a familiar and somewhat curt phrase. The usual plural is swaq. The word also evokes bustle and disorder: yechbah souk is said of a noisy place.
Example
رحت للسوق نشري الخضرة
rouht les-souk nechri l-khodra
“I went to the market to buy vegetables.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “souk” but also “sou9”, “souq”, “suk” and “sog”. 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 “souk” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “market, souk”; “weekly market”: sou9 in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “market, souk”; “business (as in mouch sou9ek)”: sou9 in Tunisian.