lo3ba لعبة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“lo3ba” (لعبة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning game.
Meanings
- game
- toy
- match, round
Usage
Lo3ba means both a game (board game, video game, sport) and an object a child plays with: English distinguishes "game" and "toy", while darija uses the same word. The common plural is l3ab. It is used with the verb l3eb, "to play": l3eb lo3ba, "to play a game". Figuratively, lo3ba can mean a maneuver or a scheme, like "that's his little game" in English. The pronunciation varies by region (lo3ba, le3ba, la3ba), which explains the many spellings.
Example
ديك لعبة عجبتني
dik lo3ba 3jbtni
“I liked that game.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lo3ba” but also “le3ba”, “l3ba”, “la3ba”, “lou3ba” and “le3aba”. 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.
Type “lo3ba” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “game, match”; “toy”: l3ba in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “game”; “toy”: le3ba in Tunisian.