lawha لوحة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“lawha” (لوحة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning board, plank, panel.
Meanings
- board, plank, panel
- surfboard, windsurf board
- painting, picture
Usage
Lawha refers to a flat, rigid surface: a wooden board, a panel, a notice board. At the beach, it is used for a surfboard or bodyboard. Lawha chirai'ya means a windsurf board, a common expression in sailing clubs. The word can also mean a painted picture, but that use is more formal, close to Standard Arabic. For a licence plate, people usually say matricule or numrou. The usual plural is lwah. The word is feminine: lawha kbira means "a big board".
Example
نحب نكري لوحة نعوم بيها في البحر.
n7eb nekri lawha n3oum biha fil b7ar.
“I want to rent a board to swim with in the sea.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lawha” but also “louha”, “lou7a”, “law7a” and “lwha”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.