tbel طبل
Moroccan Darija · noun
“tbel” (طبل) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning drum.
Meanings
- drum
Usage
Tbel refers to the drum, especially the large two-headed drum struck with a stick. You hear it at celebrations, weddings, popular music and processions. The plural is tbal or tbola. To say "to play the drum", use the verb dreb: dreb tbel. The person who plays it is the tbbal. Other percussion instruments have their own names, such as the derbouka, the bendir or the t'bila. Figuratively, tbel can evoke racket or making a big fuss about something.
Example
كيضربو الأكورديون، بانجو، طبل والموساجيل!
kaydrbo accordion, banjo, Tbal o lmosajil!
“They play the accordion, banjo, drums and the recorder!”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tbel” but also “tbal”, “tbl” and “tebel”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “tbel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “drum”; “festive bass drum”: tbal in Tunisian.