tgoul تقول
Algerian Darja · verb
“tgoul” (تقول) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning you say / she says.
Meanings
- you say / she says
- as if, it looks like
Usage
Tgoul is the imperfect form of the verb gal / goul (to say) in the second person singular or the third person feminine. The q is often pronounced g, hence tgoul, but also t9oul in cities. In a very frequent use, fixed at the start of a clause, tgoul means "it looks like": "tgoul souq", it looks like a market. This comparative sense can surprise an English speaker. Context is what distinguishes "you say" from "it looks like".
Example
واش تقول نتا؟
wach tgoul nta?
“What do you say, you?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tgoul” but also “t9oul”, “tqoul”, “tegoul” and “tgol”. 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 “tgoul” 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 (masc.); she says”; “as if, you'd think”: tgoul in Moroccan.