t9el تقل
Moroccan Darija · verb
“t9el” (تقل) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to slow down, take it easy.
Meanings
- to slow down, take it easy
- to calm down, settle down
- to cut down on (with men)
Usage
T9el comes from the idea of heaviness. It is used mainly in the imperative to ask someone to slow down or calm down: t9el chwiya, "easy, calm down a bit." With the preposition men, it means "to do less": t9el men lhedra, "talk less." The register is informal, often friendly, but it can sound curt depending on the tone. Do not confuse it with tqal or tgal, "to be said," the passive of gal or qal, which is sometimes written the same way in Arabic letters.
Example
تقل شوية، ماشي مزروبين
t9el chwiya, machi mzrobin
“Slow down a bit, we're not in a hurry.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “t9el” but also “te9el”, “t9al”, “tqel” and “t9l”. 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.