stah سطح
Algerian Darja · noun
“stah” (سطح) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning rooftop terrace.
Meanings
- rooftop terrace
- roof
- surface
Usage
Stah first means the flat roof of Algerian houses, used as a terrace where people hang laundry, dry provisions, or go up to enjoy the cool air: "tla3 lel stah" ("go up to the terrace"). The word is also used more broadly for the roof. The sense of "surface", as in "sath el ard" ("the surface of the earth") or "fouq sath el bahr" ("above sea level"), belongs more to Standard Arabic and is then pronounced sath. In Algerian French, it is often rendered as "la terrasse".
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “stah” but also “sta7”, “sat7” and “sath”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “stah” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “roof terrace of a house”; “surface (formal register)”: sta7 in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “flat roof, roof terrace”; “surface”: sta7 in Tunisian.