sibaq سباق
Moroccan Darija · noun
“sibaq” (سباق) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning race, speed competition.
Meanings
- race, speed competition
- competition, contest
Usage
Sibaq means a race, in the sense of a sporting competition: sibaq dyal l3wd (horse race), sibaq dyal tomobilat (car race). The word belongs to a rather formal register, that of the media and sports commentary. In everyday conversation, kourse, borrowed from French, is often used. The word is related to the verb sbe9 (to get ahead, to arrive first), but should not be confused with it. Figuratively, it also means a competition between people to obtain something, for example sibaq 3la lkerasi (the race for seats).
Example
تفرجنا ف السباق ديال العود البارح
tferrejna f sibaq dyal l3wd lbare7
“Yesterday we watched the horse race.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sibaq” but also “siba9”, “sbaq” and “sba9”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “sibaq” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “race, speed contest”; “event, competition”: sbe9 in Tunisian.