sabnekh سبناخ
Tunisian Derja · noun
“sabnekh” (سبناخ) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning spinach.
Meanings
- spinach
Usage
Sabnekh is the usual word for spinach in Tunisia. It is a collective noun: sabnekh has no plural, just like "spinach" in English. It appears in several family dishes: tajine sabnekh (Tunisian tajine with eggs and spinach), spinach sauces with meat or chickpeas, or mixed with parsley (ma3dnous) in stuffings. It is bought in bunches at the market. The word belongs to everyday cooking and shopping vocabulary.
Example
اليوم طيبت طاجين سبناخ.
lyoum tayabt tajine sabnekh.
“Today I cooked a spinach tajine.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sabnekh” but also “sbanekh”, “sabnakh”, “sebnekh” and “sabna5”. 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.