7ala حالة

Moroccan Darija · noun

“7ala” (حالة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning case, situation.

Meanings

1. case, situation
2. state, condition
3. mess, disaster (exclamation)

Usage

7ala refers to a case or a particular situation, or to the state of a person or thing: "7ala sse77iya" (state of health). In colloquial speech, the word often takes on an exclamatory value: "wa 7ala!" or "kanet 7ala!" express disorder, a mess or a painful situation. Context and intonation tell the two uses apart. Do not confuse it with l7al, which means the general state of things or the weather ("l7al skhoun", it's hot). The plural is 7alat.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7ala” but also “7aala”, “hala” and “7ale”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.

Type “7ala” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “state, situation, condition”; “a scene, a sensation (dar hala)”: hala in Algerian.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “state, condition”; “sight, outrageous scene”: 7ala in Tunisian.