9tel قتل
Algerian Darja · verb
“9tel” (قتل) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to kill.
Meanings
- to kill
- to exhaust, exasperate (figurative)
- to make someone die laughing
Usage
9tel, imperfective yo9tel, means "to kill", literally as in a homicide. The figurative use is, however, very frequent in conversation. 9telni means "he wore me out" or "he got on my nerves", and 9telni bed-de7k, "he made me die laughing". The passive form t9tel or ttel9tel means "to be killed". Context matters: in a complaint or a joke, the verb is not violent at all. Depending on the region, the first consonant is also pronounced g or q.
Example
قتل الحنش بالحجرة
9tel le7nech bel 7jra
“He killed the snake with a stone.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9tel” but also “qtel”, “ktel”, “gtel” and “9atal”. 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.
Type “9tel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to kill, murder”; “to wear out, exasperate (figurative)”: 9tel in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to kill”; “murder (noun: 9atl)”: 9tel in Tunisian.