3lach علاش
Algerian Darja · adverb
“3lach” (علاش) is an adverb in Algerian Darja meaning why (question).
Meanings
- why (question)
- that's why, this is why
Usage
3lach is the most common question word for asking the cause. It goes at the start of the sentence: "3lach ma jitch?" (why didn't you come?). It also introduces an indirect question: "ma fhamtch 3lach". In "hadi hiya 3lach" or "haw 3lach", it takes the meaning "that's why". The synonyms 3lah and lah are mostly regional. To answer, one uses khater or 3la khater (because). The word is neutral and used in all registers.
Example
علاش ما جيتش البارح؟
3lach ma jitch lbareh?
“Why didn't you come yesterday?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3lach” but also “3lech”, “alach”, “3lache” and “3lèch”. 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 “3lach” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “why”; “on what, about what”: 3lach in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “why”; “for (having done), after 'regret'”: 3lech in Tunisian.