sbe3 صبع
Moroccan Darija · noun
“sbe3” (صبع) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning finger.
Meanings
- finger
- toe (sbe3 d rjel)
Usage
Sbe3 is the common word for "finger". The plural is swabe3 or sbabe3. For a toe, one specifies sbe3 d rjel. The word appears in several expressions, such as hezz sbe3, "raise a finger". Watch out: sbe3 written with an ordinary s (سبع) means "lion". In arabizi, the two words are often spelled the same way, and context is what tells them apart. The thumb is often called sbe3 lkbir or bouhbbes, depending on the region.
Example
جرحت صبعي بالموس
jre7t sb3i b lmous
“I cut my finger with the knife.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sbe3” but also “sb3”, “sba3” and “sbaa”. 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 “sbe3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “finger”; “toe (sob3 sa9)”: sob3 in Tunisian.