zlija زليجة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“zlija” (زليجة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning a zellige tile.
Meanings
- a zellige tile
- a floor or wall tile
Usage
Zlija is the unit form of the collective zlij. It refers to a single tile, whether zellige or ordinary tiling. You say wa7ed zlija for one tile, and zlijat or juj zlijat when counting several. The word also appears in informal figurative expressions about someone's head or mind. Their exact meaning depends on context, and it is better not to translate them word for word. In concrete use, it is mostly used for building work, for example for a broken or loose tile.
Example
طاحت واحد الزليجة من الحيط
ta7et wa7ed zlija mn l7it
“A tile fell off the wall.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zlija” but also “zliija” and “zellija”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.