7alian حاليا
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“7alian” (حاليا) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning currently, at the moment.
Meanings
- currently, at the moment
Usage
7alian comes from standard Arabic but is commonly used in darija, especially to talk about one's current situation: work, studies, housing. It is a bit more formal than daba, which means "now" and remains the most spontaneous word in everyday speech. It is often placed at the beginning or end of a sentence: "7alian kan-khdem f..." (currently I work at...). Note that it means "at the moment" and not "in fact", unlike the English false friend "actually".
Example
كنكتب كتاب على المشاع حاليا
kanktab ktab 3la lmchach 7alian
“I'm currently writing a book about common property.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7alian” but also “7alyan”, “halian”, “7aliyan” and “7aalian”. 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.