bsala بصلة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“bsala” (بصلة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning an onion.
Meanings
- an onion
Usage
Bsala means one onion, the single unit. The collective bsal means onions in general: "chrit bsal" (I bought onions), "bsala wa7da" (just one onion). It is an everyday cooking word, present in almost every recipe: "9ass bsala" (cut an onion). Note that in a text written in Arabic script, the same spelling can correspond to the standard expression "bi-sila" (to have a connection with), as in "la yamuttu bi-sila". Context resolves the ambiguity. Also, "bou bsala" is sometimes used as a mocking nickname.
Example
قص بصلة وحطها في الطاجين
9oss bsala w 7otha fi ettajine
“Cut an onion and put it in the tajine.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bsala” but also “bsla”, “basla”, “bssala” and “bsela”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bsala” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “onion (vegetable)”; “an onion, an onion bulb”: bsla in Moroccan.