khle3 خلع
Moroccan Darija · verb
“khle3” (خلع) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to frighten, scare.
Meanings
- to frighten, scare
- to startle
Usage
Khle3 is the usual verb for "to frighten". It is transitive: khle3ni, he frightened me. The intransitive sense "to be afraid, to get scared" is expressed by the form tkhle3 (tkhle3t, I got scared), which Moroccans use very often. The participle mkhlo3 means "frightened, scared". The register is colloquial yet neutral, and the word suits all everyday situations. The related noun is khel3a, "fear". Do not carry over the meaning "to dismiss" or "to take off" that this root has in Standard Arabic: in Morocco, khle3 refers first of all to fear.
Example
مابغيتيش ت خلع داك لولد سغير
mabghitich t 5le3 dak lweld sghir
“You don't want to scare that little boy.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kankhle3 | khle3t | |
| nta (you, m.) | katkhle3 | khle3ti | khle3 |
| nti (you, f.) | katkhl3i | khle3ti | khl3i |
| howa (he) | kaykhle3 | khle3 | |
| hiya (she) | katkhle3 | khl3at | |
| 7na (we) | kankhl3o | khl3na | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katkhl3o | khle3to | khl3o |
| homa (they) | kaykhl3o | khl3o |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khle3” but also “5le3”, “khla3”, “khlee3” and “5la3”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent; 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khle3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to frighten, to scare”; “to startle, to make someone jump”: khla3 in Tunisian.