dal3a ضلعة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“dal3a” (ضلعة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning rib (bone of the chest).
Meanings
- rib (bone of the chest)
- rib, chop (butchery)
Usage
Dal3a refers to a rib of the human or animal body. The plural is Dlo3 or Dlou3. It is used in everyday medical talk, for example for a broken rib, and at the butcher's for rib cuts. The word also appears in traditional allusions to woman being created from a rib. Do not confuse it with Dla3, "side" or "flank", which comes from the same root.
Example
طحت وتهرسات ليا ضلعة
Tə7t w therrsat liya Dal3a
“I fell and broke a rib.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dal3a” but also “dl3a”, “del3a” and “dala3a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.