dkhel دخل
Algerian Darja · verb
“dkhel” (دخل) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to enter.
Meanings
- to enter
- to have to do with, concern
- (noun dakhl) income
Usage
Dkhel (imperfective yedkhol, imperative odkhol or dkhol) is the usual verb for "to enter". It takes l- or f-: dkhel l'dar, dkhel f'lbit. It is also used figuratively: dkhel l'qalb, "to touch, to appeal to". In a question, wach dkhel… ? means "what does that have to do with anything?". Wach dakhlek ? means "what business is it of yours?". The noun dakhl, "income", belongs mostly to an administrative or formal register. The common sense remains "to enter".
Example
دخل للدار وما سلّمش
dkhel l'dar w ma sellemch
“He came into the house without saying hello.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dkhel” but also “dkhal”, “d5el”, “dakhel” and “da5el”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “dkhel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to enter, go into a place”; “to meddle, get involved”: dkhel in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to enter, to go into somewhere”; “to crash into”: d5al in Tunisian.