9aleb قالب

Tunisian Derja · noun

“9aleb” (قالب) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning mold (cooking, construction).

Meanings

1. mold (cooking, construction)
2. form, framework
3. loaf, block (of sugar, soap)

Usage

9aleb first means a mold, in cooking for cakes or in construction for concrete and bricks. It also names a molded block: 9aleb sokkor, the traditional sugar loaf. In a more written register, fi 9aleb means "in the form of": fi 9aleb 9issa ("in the form of a story"), fi 9aleb dha7ka ("in a joking tone"). The plural is 9wéleb. It should not be confused with 9leb, from the verb "to turn over".

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9aleb” but also “qaleb”, “9alib”, “kaleb” and “galeb”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.

Type “9aleb” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “trap, setup, scam”; “pretense, staged act”: 9aleb in Algerian.