khobza خبزة

Tunisian Derja · noun

“khobza” (خبزة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning a loaf of bread.

Meanings

1. a loaf of bread
2. livelihood, daily bread

Usage

Khobza refers to a single unit of bread: a baguette, a round loaf or a flatbread, whereas khobz is bread in general. You say ena nechri zouz khobzat, "I'm buying two loaves". Figuratively, khobza means livelihood: yjri 3la khobztou, "he is running after his livelihood", and 9ass khobztou, "he cut off his livelihood". Depending on context, the word can also describe something easy or free of difficulty. Common register.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khobza” but also “5obza”, “khubza” and “5obz”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.

Type “khobza” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “a loaf, a round of bread”; “livelihood, source of income”: khobza in Moroccan.