zlafa زلافة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“zlafa” (زلافة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning bowl.
Meanings
- bowl
- bowlful, contents of a bowl
Usage
Zlafa is the everyday word for a bowl. It is the hollow dish in which harira, soup, milk or cereal is served. The plural is zlayef. It is often used for the quantity contained: zlafa dyal ḥrira, "a bowl of harira." It is an everyday word, used in all registers. Do not confuse it with ṭebsil, "plate," or kas, "glass." For a small bowl, the diminutive zlifa is also heard.
Example
كانت عندي زلافة ديال شيراشي!
kant 3ndi zlafa dyal chirashi!
“I had a bowl of chirashi!”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zlafa” but also “zellafa” and “zlaffa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “zlafa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “bowl, deep dish”; “bowlful”: zlafa in Algerian.