3jej عجاج
Tunisian Derja · noun
“3jej” (عجاج) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning dust storm.
Meanings
- dust storm
- airborne dust, dry haze
Usage
3jej refers to dust or sand lifted by the wind, and by extension to windy weather laden with dust, frequent in spring and summer, especially with the sirocco. One says “el-youm 3jej” for a day when the air is grey and dry, or “tla3 3jej” when the wind rises and kicks up the sand. The word evokes physical discomfort: stinging eyes, dry lips, a house full of dust. The register is everyday, especially in the centre and south. It is not used for ordinary household dust, which is ghbar.
Example
اليوم عجاج، ما تخرجش
el-youm 3jej, ma tokhrojch
“Today there's a dust wind, don't go out.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3jej” but also “3jaj”, “ajej”, “3ajej” and “ajaj”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “3jej” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “violent dust-laden wind”; “raised dust, dust cloud”: 3ajjaj in Algerian.