tabia اطابيه
Tunisian Derja · noun
“tabia” (اطابيه) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning earthen bank along a field.
Meanings
- earthen bank along a field
- prickly pear hedge
- low earthen wall
Usage
The tabia is the raised bank of earth that borders or separates plots in the countryside. It is often planted with prickly pears, hence the meaning of cactus hedge. The recorded spelling is "ettabia", with the assimilated article. The word belongs mainly to rural vocabulary: animals nest in it, children play on it, and people walk along it to mark the limits of a property. By extension, it can mean a low earthen wall. The word is feminine.
Example
الفكرون دخل في حفرة في الطابية
el fakroun dkhal fi 7ofra fi ettabia
“The tortoise went into a hole in the embankment.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tabia” but also “ettabia”, “tabiya”, “tabya”, “etabia” and “tebia”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find اطابيه and طابيه, all the same word.