3lou علو
Moroccan Darija · noun
“3lou” (علو) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning height, elevation.
Meanings
- height, elevation
- the top, upper part
Usage
A noun for the height of an object, a building or a place. It belongs to a rather careful register: in everyday conversation, people often use tol for size or length. It is mostly found with the article, l-3lu, for example for the height of a wall or a building. Do not confuse it with the preposition 3la (on) or the adjective 3ali (high, elevated), whose Latin spelling is similar. To say a person is tall, use twil, not this noun.
Example
شحال العلو ديال هاد الحيط؟
ch7al l3lou dyal had l7it?
“How high is this wall?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3lou” but also “3lo” and “3low”. 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.