tsawira تصويرة
Algerian Darja · noun
“tsawira” (تصويرة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning photo, photograph.
Meanings
- photo, photograph
- image, illustration
Usage
Tsawira (or tswira) is the usual word for a photo, whether printed or digital. You say dar tsawira, "take a photo", and wrili tsawira, "show me a photo". The plural is tsawer. It is used a lot on social media, often competing with the French "photo", which many Algerians use as is. The term is informal and neutral. It can also mean an image or an illustration in general.
Example
ديرلي تصويرة قدام البحر
dirli tsawira qoddam lebhar
“Take a photo of me in front of the sea.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tsawira” but also “tswira”, “tasswira”, “taswira” and “tsouira”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “tsawira” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “photo, photograph”; “image, illustration”: tswira in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “photo”; “picture”: taswira in Tunisian.