sba3 السبع
Tunisian Derja · noun
“sba3” (السبع) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning lion.
Meanings
- lion
- brave, courageous man
- one-seventh (fraction)
Usage
Sba3 (es-sba3 with the article) is the usual word in Tunisia for "lion". It appears in tales, in talk about the zoo, and in expressions. Figuratively, it is used to praise a courageous man: enti sba3, "you are a lion". Beware of the homography in Arabic script: without vowels, the same spelling can be read es-sab3 (the number seven, as in es-sab3 b7our, "the seven seas") or es-sbo3 (the seventh, as a fraction). Context decides. The feminine sab3a or lbouwa is rarer in speech.
Example
مشينا للجنينة وشفنا السبع.
mchina lel jnina w chofna es-sba3.
“We went to the zoo and saw the lion.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sba3” but also “essba3”, “sbe3” and “sbaa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.