tdekhel تدخّل
Moroccan Darija · verb
“tdekhel” (تدخّل) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to meddle, interfere.
Meanings
- to meddle, interfere
- to intervene
Usage
The verb tdekhkhel means "to meddle" or "to intervene". It takes f: tdekhkhel f..., "to meddle in...". It is heard mostly in the negative or in a reproach: ma tdekhkhelch f chi ma ya3nik, "don't meddle in what doesn't concern you". It can also be neutral, for example for an authority or a friend who steps in during a dispute. Note: in Arabic script without vowels, it is confused with tdkhol, "you enter", from the verb dkhel. This is the case in several attested sentences. The doubling of the consonant kh marks the sense "to intervene".
Example
ما تدخّلش فداكشي، ماشي سوقك
ma tdekhkhelch f dakchi, machi sou9ek
“Don't get involved in that, it's none of your business.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kantdkhkhel | tdkhkhelt | |
| nta (you, m.) | kattdkhkhel | tdkhkhelti | tdkhkhel |
| nti (you, f.) | kattdkhkhli | tdkhkhelti | tdkhkhli |
| howa (he) | kaytdkhkhel | tdkhkhel | |
| hiya (she) | kattdkhkhel | tdkhkhlat | |
| 7na (we) | kantdkhkhlo | tdkhkhlna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | kattdkhkhlo | tdkhkhlto | tdkhkhlo |
| homa (they) | kaytdkhkhlo | tdkhkhlo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tdekhel” but also “tde55el”, “tdakhel”, “tdekhkhel”, “tdkhl” and “tdkhkhel”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “tdekhel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to enter, go into a place”; “to touch, win over ("enter the heart")”: tedkhol in Algerian.