t9oli تقولي

Algerian Darja · verb

“t9oli” (تقولي) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning you tell me, she tells me.

Meanings

1. you tell me, she tells me
2. as if, you'd think
3. you say (feminine)

Usage

Tqoulli is the verb qal (to say) followed by -li ("to me"): "you tell me" or "she tells me". Written tqouli, it can also be the feminine form "you say". The main pitfall is a very common fixed use: "tqoul" or "tqoulli" placed before a noun or a clause means "it looks like, as if". So "tqoulli 3roussa" means "she looks like a bride". "Wach tqoulli?" asks the listener's opinion. Depending on the region, it is pronounced with a q, a g or a hamza: tgoulli, t'oulli.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “t9oli” but also “t9olli”, “tqoli”, “tgouli” and “t9ouli”. 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 “t9oli” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “you say (fem.)”; “as if, it seems like”: tgouli in Moroccan.