nakhla نخلة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“nakhla” (نخلة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning palm tree, date palm.
Meanings
- palm tree, date palm
Usage
Nakhla means the date palm, very common in southern Tunisia, notably in the oases of the Djerid and Gabès, and also planted in towns and gardens. The collective is nakhl and the plural is nakhlet. Dates are called tmar, and the fruit while still green or fresh is called bla7. People say "jedh3 nakhla" for the trunk and "jrida" for the palm frond. The word appears in figurative expressions: "twil kima nakhla" is said of a very tall person. Common, neutral register, understood everywhere in Tunisia.
Example
في جردة جدّي فما نخلة طويلة برشة.
fi jordet jeddi famma nakhla twila barcha.
“In my grandfather's garden there is a very tall palm tree.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “nakhla” but also “na5la” and “nekhla”. 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 “nakhla” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “date palm”; “palm tree (in general)”: nakhla in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “date palm”; “palm tree (in general)”: nakhla in Algerian.