tonobil طونوبيل
Algerian Darja · noun
“tonobil” (طونوبيل) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning car, automobile.
Meanings
- car, automobile
Usage
Tonobil, or tomobil, is the adapted loanword from French "automobile" and remains the most common word for "car" in much of Algeria. It is feminine: tonobil jdida, "a new car". The most widespread plural is tonobilat. You also hear loto, from "l'auto", and sayyara in a more formal register or on television. Typical phrases are chra tonobil, "to buy a car", and sag tonobil, "to drive a car". Its pronunciation and gender are fully integrated into darja.
Example
شريت طونوبيل جديدة الشهر لي فات.
chrit tonobil jdida chhar li fat.
“I bought a new car last month.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tonobil” but also “6onobil” and “tonobile”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 6 is emphatic ta (ط).