9elleb قلّب
Moroccan Darija · verb
“9elleb” (قلّب) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to search, look for.
Meanings
- to search, look for
- to turn over, flip
- to check, examine
Usage
The verb 9elleb is very commonly used with the preposition 3la to say "to look for something or someone": 9elleb 3la sbbatek, "look for your shoes". Without a complement introduced by 3la, it rather means to rummage through or turn over an object. So you say 9elleb ljib, "rummage through the pocket", or 9elleb lwerqa, "turn over the sheet". It can also mean to go through or to check. Be careful not to confuse it with the noun 9elb, "heart". The two words are written the same way in Arabic without vowels, but the verb has a doubled consonant.
Example
سير قلب عليها
sir 9elb 3liha
“Go and look for her.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kan9llb | 9llbt | |
| nta (you, m.) | kat9llb | 9llbti | 9llb |
| nti (you, f.) | kat9llbi | 9llbti | 9llbi |
| howa (he) | kay9llb | 9llb | |
| hiya (she) | kat9llb | 9llbat | |
| 7na (we) | kan9llbo | 9llbna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | kat9llbo | 9llbto | 9llbo |
| homa (they) | kay9llbo | 9llbo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9elleb” but also “9lleb”, “9alleb”, “qelleb”, “9eleb” and “9llb”. 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 “9elleb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to look for, to search”; “to turn over, turn upside down”: galleb in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “heart (organ, feelings)”; “centre, inner part”: 9alb in Tunisian.