dfa3 دفع
Algerian Darja · verb
“dfa3” (دفع) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to push, shove.
Meanings
- to push, shove
- to pay (formal register)
- to drive, urge on
Usage
Dfaʿ is the usual verb for physically pushing someone or something: dfaʿ lbab (push the door), dfaʿni (he pushed me). It is also used for a broken-down car that is pushed to start it. The meaning "to pay" exists mainly in an administrative register or one close to Standard Arabic (wasa'il dfaʿ, means of payment). In everyday conversation, to pay one rather says khelleṣ. Figuratively, dfaʿ can mean to push someone to act. The verbal noun dfiʿ refers to the push. Be careful not to confuse it with dfeʿ in the sense of "to defend".
Example
عاوني نْدَفْعُو الطوموبيل، راهي ما حبّتش تقلّع.
3awenni ndef3ou ttomobil, rahi ma habbetch t9alla3.
“Help me push the car, it won't start.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dfa3” but also “dfe3”, “defa3” and “dafa3”. 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 “dfa3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to push”; “to submit (a file), apply”: dfe3 in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “push”; “pay (formal)”: dfa3 in Tunisian.