ba9lewa بقلاوة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“ba9lewa” (بقلاوة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning baklava, layered pastry with nuts.
Meanings
- baklava, layered pastry with nuts
Usage
Ba9lewa is a pastry made of thin layers of filo dough, filled with almonds, hazelnuts or pistachios and soaked in syrup or honey. In Tunisia, it is served at celebrations, particularly Eid and weddings. It is often made at home or bought by weight from the pastry shop. The word is collective and used without a plural: "kilo ba9lewa" (a kilo of baklava), "9at3a ba9lewa" (a piece of baklava). It is grouped with other traditional sweets, such as "makroudh" and "kaak warka".
Example
أمي عملت البقلاوة للعيد
ommi 3amlet el ba9lewa lel 3id
“My mother made baklava for Eid.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ba9lewa” but also “ba9lawa”, “baklawa”, “baklewa” and “ba9leoua”. 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 “ba9lewa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “baklava, layered almond pastry”: baklawa in Algerian.