kelwa كلوة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“kelwa” (كلوة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning kidney (organ).
Meanings
- kidney (organ)
- kidney (as food)
Usage
Kelwa refers to the kidney, whether in medicine or at the butcher's (lamb kidney, grilled or cooked with liver, "kebda w kelwa"). The plural is kle. One says "3andou 7jar fel kelwa" for kidney stones and "marídh bel kle" for kidney disease. The joke "besh tbi3 kelwa?" (are you going to sell a kidney?) mocks a spending deemed outrageous. The word is common and belongs to the neutral register. The standard term "kulya" is found mostly in written medical contexts.
Example
الطبيب قالّو عندو حجر في الكلوة.
tbib 9allou 3andou 7jar fel kelwa.
“The doctor told him he had a kidney stone.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “kelwa” but also “kalwa”, “kilwa”, “klwa” and “kelwe”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “kelwa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “kidney”; “kidney (as food)”: kelwa in Moroccan.