trabba3 تربع
Tunisian Derja · verb
“trabba3” (تربع) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to sit cross-legged.
Meanings
- to sit cross-legged
- to settle in comfortably
- to sit enthroned, dominate
Usage
Tarabba3 first means to sit cross-legged, on the floor or on a mattress, as one does around a low table or a shared dish. By extension, it expresses settling in comfortably, for the long term. The figurative sense, "to sit enthroned," appears mostly in the language of media and football: a team "titrabba3 3al tartib" (dominates the standings), someone has settled into people's hearts. The first sense is everyday and neutral. The common forms are "trabba3" in the past and "yitrabba3" in the present.
Example
تربعنا الكل حول الصحفة وبدينا ناكلو.
trabba3na el kol 7awl essa7fa w bdina naklou.
“We all sat cross-legged around the dish and started eating.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “trabba3” but also “tarabba3”, “itrabba3” and “trabbaa”. 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.