9andil قنديل

Tunisian Derja · noun

“9andil” (قنديل) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning oil lamp, lantern.

Meanings

1. oil lamp, lantern
2. jellyfish (9andil lebhar)

Usage

9andil refers first to the traditional oil lamp or lantern, today mostly evoked in proverbs and descriptions of old life. In modern usage, the most common sense is "9andil lebhar", the jellyfish, much talked about in summer on the beaches: "el bhar fih 9nadel" (there are jellyfish). The plural is 9nadel. A well-known proverb, "kif 9andil bab mnara, ma ydhawi ken 3al berrani", criticizes someone who helps strangers and neglects their own family. The word belongs to everyday register.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9andil” but also “qandil”, “kandil”, “9andiil” and “gandil”. 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 “9andil” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “oil lamp, night light”; “lantern, chandelier”: 9endil in Moroccan.

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “oil lamp, lantern”; “chandelier, hanging lamp”: qandil in Algerian.