trab تراب
Tunisian Derja · noun
“trab” (تراب) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning earth, soil.
Meanings
- earth, soil
- dust
- territory, land
Usage
Trāb refers to earth as a material: garden soil, unpaved ground, dust. One says trāb a7mar (red earth) or kollha trāb (everything is covered in dust). By extension, it refers to the national territory: trāb tounsi (Tunisian soil). It appears in affectionate or religious expressions linked to death and burial. The word also appears in very vulgar curses aimed at someone's ancestors; these uses are insulting and should be avoided. For a plot of cultivable land, ard or ṭrī7a is used instead.
Example
الكرهبة تعبّات بالتراب بعد الثنية.
el karhba t3abet bel trab ba3d e thniya.
“The car got covered in dust after the road.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “trab” but also “traab”, “torab”, “trabb”, “ettrab” and “turab”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find تراب and ترب, all the same word.
Type “trab” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “soil, earth”; “dust”: trab in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “earth, soil”; “dust”: trab in Algerian.