sayeb سايب

Tunisian Derja · adjective

“sayeb” (سايب) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning letting go, leaving.

Meanings

1. letting go, leaving
2. left unattended, loose
3. lawless, chaotic

Usage

Sayeb comes from the verb sayyeb, "to let go, to leave". As an active participle it means "who leaves": "sayeb el wled wahdou" ("he leaves the child alone"). As an adjective it describes what is left to itself, without control: "bled sayba" ("a lawless country"), "kalb sayeb" ("a stray dog"). The feminine is sayba. The phrase "sayeb 3lik" asks someone to leave a person alone. One also says "sayebha" ("let it go"). The tone is colloquial.

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sayeb” but also “saybe”, “sayb” and “sayib”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “sayeb” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “loose, left unattended”; “plentiful, found everywhere”: sayeb in Algerian.