sel3a سلعة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“sel3a” (سلعة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning goods, merchandise.
Meanings
- goods, merchandise
- junk (ironic)
- remarkable person (slang)
Usage
Sel3a refers to goods, the products that are sold or transported: "kamyoun sel3a" (goods truck), "tran mta3 sel3a" (goods train). Shopkeepers speak of "sel3a jdida" (a new shipment). With "malla" or an ironic tone, the word is used to complain about poor-quality goods. In slang, "sel3a" is also applied to a person. Depending on the tone, it can be admiring (a phenomenon, a good-looking guy) or pejorative (a strange character). Plural: "sla3".
Example
ملّا سلعة باعوا ها لي
Malla sel3a ba3ou heliii
“What goods they sold me!”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sel3a” but also “sal3a”, “sel3aa” and “sil3a”. 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.
Type “sel3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “goods, merchandise for sale”; “thing, item (colloquial)”: sel3a in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “goods, merchandise”; “a trader's stock”: sel3a in Algerian.