aslan أصلا
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“aslan” (أصلا) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning anyway, in any case, to begin with.
Meanings
- anyway, in any case, to begin with
- at all (with negation)
- originally
Usage
Aslan is very frequent in speech as a discourse adverb. It is used to bring in a decisive argument, "anyway", or to go back to the starting point, "to begin with": aslan ma kanch baghi ymchi, "anyway, he didn't want to go". With a negation, it strengthens the refusal in the sense of "at all": ma3reftoch aslan, "I don't know him at all". The etymological sense "originally" exists but is rarer. The word goes at the beginning or the end of a sentence.
Example
أصلا نتي تعطلتي
aslan nti t3atalti
“Anyway, you were late.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “aslan” but also “asslan”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “aslan” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “anyway, in the first place”; “(with negation) not even, not at all”: asslan in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “basically, anyway”; “even, at all (in questions)”: aslan in Tunisian.