zlij زليج
Moroccan Darija · noun
“zlij” (زليج) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning zellige, glazed ceramic tiles.
Meanings
- zellige, glazed ceramic tiles
- tiling
Usage
Zlij first refers to traditional zellige: small glazed terracotta tiles, cut by hand and assembled into geometric patterns. You see it on walls, fountains and patios. In everyday language, the word is also used for tiling in general, on floors or walls. It is a collective noun: a single tile is called zlija. The usual verbs are rekkeb zlij (to lay tiles) and 9le3 zlij (to remove them). The English word "zellige" comes from this term.
Example
غير هو إيلا بغيتي تركب زليج فوق الموزيك
ghyr hwa ila bghyty trkab zlij fo9 lamozik
“It's just that, if you want to lay zellige over the mosaic…”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zlij” but also “zellij”, “zellige” and “zliij”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.