dalil دليل
Algerian Darja · noun
“dalil” (دليل) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning proof, sign.
Meanings
- proof, sign
- guide (person or booklet)
Usage
Dalil means "proof" or "sign". It comes from Standard Arabic, but is well integrated into darja, especially in discussion and argument. The most typical construction is hada dalil 3la… (this is proof that…). In a more formal register, or in tourism vocabulary, dalil also means a guide, whether a person (dalil siya7i) or a booklet. The plural is adilla or dala'il. In speech, to ask for proof in a casual way, one also hears wach 3andek ? (what proof do you have?), without using the word.
Example
ما عندكش حتى دليل باللي هو سرقها
ma 3andekch 7atta dalil belli howa sreqha
“You have no proof that he's the one who stole it.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dalil” but also “dalile”, “delil” and “daliil”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “dalil” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “proof, evidence”; “argument”: dalil in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “proof, evidence”; “argument”: dalil in Tunisian.