goul ڭول
Moroccan Darija · verb
“goul” (ڭول) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning say! (imperative of "to say").
Meanings
- say! (imperative of "to say")
- goalkeeper (informal)
Usage
Gul is the singular imperative of gal, "to say". It is used constantly to ask for information, with gul li, "tell me", or to introduce a suggested reply: gul l-ḥamdu lillah. In the plural, one says gulu. The spelling ḡul also corresponds to gol, a borrowing from French "goal". It denotes the goalkeeper in football talk, alongside gardyan and ḥaris. Only context distinguishes the two words.
Example
ڭول أش عندك
goul ach 3endek
“Tell me, what's wrong?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “goul” but also “gul”, “gol”, “9oul” and “qoul”. 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.