sebbagh صبّاغ
Moroccan Darija · noun
“sebbagh” (صبّاغ) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning house painter.
Meanings
- house painter
- dyer
Usage
Sebbagh refers to the craftsman who paints walls, doors and facades: the house painter. It is not the artist-painter, who is rather called rassam or fennan. The word comes from the verb sbegh, "to paint, to dye". More traditionally, it can also refer to the dyer of wool and fabrics, for example in the dyers' souks of the medinas. The plural is sebbagha. The trade itself is called sbagha, a word that also means paint as a product.
Example
جبنا الصبّاغ باش يصبغ الدار قبل العيد
jbna sebbagh bach ysbegh d-dar qbel l3id
“We got the painter in to paint the house before Eid.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sebbagh” but also “sbbagh”, “sabbagh” and “sbagh”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.