sbab سبب
Tunisian Derja · noun
“sbab” (سبب) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning reason, motive.
Meanings
- reason, motive
- cause, origin of something
Usage
Sbab (or sbeb, depending on pronunciation) is the ordinary word for "reason" or "cause". It appears in chnouwa sbab… ? (what is the reason for…?), b-sbab (because of) and blech sbab (for no reason), the last being very common. The plural is asbeb. The verb from the same root, sabbeb, means "to cause, to bring about". For an English speaker, the main pitfall is the spelling: the word is pronounced with no vowel after the initial s. So it should not be read "sabab" as in Standard Arabic.
Example
ولا دخلت لها دارها من اصله اما نكرهها هكاكا بلاش سبب
wala dkaltelha darha men aslou ema nakraha hakeka blech sbeb
“I've never even set foot in her house, but I hate her just like that, for no reason.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sbab” but also “sbeb”, “sebeb” and “sabab”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “sbab” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to cause, provoke”; “to be the origin of”: sebbeb in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to cause, to bring about”; “to be the reason for”: sebbeb in Algerian.