3olba علبة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“3olba” (علبة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning box, pack.
Meanings
- box, pack
- can, tin
- carton (milk, juice)
Usage
3olba, often pronounced 3elba, refers to any closed commercial container. This covers the cardboard box, the pack of cigarettes (3olbet dokhan), the drink can, the tin of food and the carton of milk. In the construct state, it is 3olbet: 3olbet 7lib, 3olbet tmatem. The usual plural is 3leb. For a large moving box, kartouna is also heard. In counting, 3olba serves as a unit: "3olba fi nhar" means one pack a day, speaking of cigarettes.
Example
جيبلي علبة حليب وإنتي راجعة.
jibli 3olbet 7lib w enti raj3a.
“Bring me a carton of milk on your way home.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3olba” but also “3elba”, “3olbet”, “3alba” and “olba”. 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.