bal بال
Algerian Darja · noun
“bal” (بال) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning mind, thought.
Meanings
- mind, thought
- attention
Usage
Bal is almost always used with a suffix pronoun and in fixed expressions. "3la bali" means "I know, I'm aware", and "ma 3labalich" means "I don't know". "Ja f bali" translates as "it came to my mind". To warn someone, one says "rod balek" (pay attention). In the spoken form "3la bal", the word also introduces a comparison in the sense of "like, kind of". It should also be distinguished from foreign sequences transcribed in Latin letters, such as "PayPal".
Example
ماعلاباليش وين راح
ma3labalich win ra7
“I don't know where he went.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bal” but also “bali” and “balou”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bal” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “mind, attention, thought”; “to be aware, in the know”: bal in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “mind, attention”; “maybe (balek)”: bel in Tunisian.