fil فيل
Moroccan Darija · noun
“fil” (فيل) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning elephant.
Meanings
- elephant
Usage
Fil means "elephant". The word is used mainly at the zoo, in children's stories, and in a few proverbs. The best known is ma qeddou fil zadouh fila, which means that troubles pile up: one elephant wasn't enough, so a female elephant was added. The plural is fyala or fiyal. Note: in arabizi, fil can also transcribe fi l- (in the, on the), as in fil portable (on the phone). In that case it is the preposition fi followed by the article, not the noun.
Example
شفنا الفيل فالحديقة ديال الحيوانات
chefna l-fil f l-7adi9a dyal l-7ayawanat
“We saw the elephant at the zoo.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “fil” but also “fyl” and “feel”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “fil” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “elephant”; “big, heavy person (informal)”: fil in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “elephant”: fil in Tunisian.