a9all أقلّ
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“a9all” (أقلّ) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning less, lesser.
Meanings
- less, lesser
- the least, the slightest
- at least (3la l-a9all)
Usage
A9all is the comparative of 9lil ("few", "small"). It is invariable. To compare, it is constructed with men: a9all men mya derhem ("less than a hundred dirhams"). Placed before a noun, it means "the slightest": 3la a9all 7aja ("over the slightest thing"). The expression 3la l-a9all, often pronounced 3la l9all, means "at least". In everyday darija, for "less" one also hears sghar men or 9ell men. A9all nevertheless remains very frequent in fixed expressions.
Example
كايبكي على أقل حاجة
kaybki 3la a9al 7aja
“He cries over the slightest thing.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “a9all” but also “a9al”, “2a9all” and “aqal”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop; 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “a9all” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “less, smaller”; “the least, the minimum”: a9al in Algerian.