akla اكلة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“akla” (اكلة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning dish, food item.
Meanings
- dish, food item
- meal
Usage
Akla refers to a specific dish or food item, often a speciality: "akla tounsia" (a Tunisian dish), "akla khfifa" (a snack, a light meal). The word is also common on snack-shop signs. For food in general, makla is used instead: "el makla bnina". So akla counts one dish, whereas makla refers to food as a whole. The plural is aklet. The register is neutral.
Example
الكسكسي أكلة تونسية معروفة.
el kosksi akla tounsia ma3roufa.
“Couscous is a well-known Tunisian dish.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “akla” but also “2akla” and “akle”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop.