snouber صنوبر
Moroccan Darija · noun
“snouber” (صنوبر) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning pine (tree).
Meanings
- pine (tree)
- pine nuts
Usage
Snouber means the pine, the tree of the forests of the Middle Atlas and coastal areas. The word is used as a collective: ghaba d snouber is a pine forest. By extension it also refers to the pine seeds eaten in cooking and pastry, often specified as zri3at snouber or gua3 snouber. Pine nuts are prized in certain cakes and at celebrations. The word has a neutral register and is understood everywhere, with a pronunciation that varies between snouber and sanawbar, the latter closer to Standard Arabic.
Example
مشينا نتسارو فالغابة ديال الصنوبر.
mchina ntsaraw f lghaba dyal snouber.
“We went for a walk in the pine forest.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “snouber” but also “sanawbar”, “snober”, “snawbar” and “sanouber”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “snouber” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “pine tree”; “pine wood”: snouber in Tunisian.