7leb حلب
Tunisian Derja · verb
“7leb” (حلب) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to milk (an animal).
Meanings
- to milk (an animal)
- to bleed dry, exploit someone
Usage
Ḥleb means "to milk": you milk a cow, a goat or a ewe, and you buy ḥlib, milk, which comes from the same root. Figuratively, it is used for someone you exploit or from whom you extract money bit by bit: "qa3ed yeḥleb fih", he is bleeding him dry. Imperfect: yeḥleb. Note that the same Arabic spelling also denotes the Syrian city of Aleppo, a proper noun unrelated to the verb. Everyday register, especially in rural settings for the literal sense.
Example
خالي يحلب البقرة كل صباح
khali ye7leb el bagra kol sbe7
“My uncle milks the cow every morning.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7leb” but also “hleb”, “7lab” and “ye7leb”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.