tshalbi9 تشلبيق
Tunisian Derja · noun
“tshalbi9” (تشلبيق) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning splashing about in water.
Meanings
- splashing about in water
Usage
Tchalbi9 refers to moving around in water making splashes, as children do at the seaside or in a pool. It is the action noun of the verb tchalba9, "to splash about, make splashes". The word evokes noise and disorder more than actual swimming: it contrasts with 3oum, "to swim". It belongs to informal register and often comes up in accounts of bathing or water games. It is found with fil-me, "in the water". It has no well-established figurative sense.
Example
الصغار قعدو نهار كامل في التشلبيق في البحر.
essghar 9a3dou nhar kamel fi ettchalbi9 fil b7ar.
“The kids spent the whole day splashing about in the sea.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tshalbi9” but also “tchalbi9” and “tchalbik”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.