tir lil طير الليل
Moroccan Darija · noun
“tir lil” (طير الليل) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning bat.
Meanings
- bat
- night owl (person)
Usage
Ṭir l-lil literally means "bird of the night." It is the usual word for a bat in Morocco. It is said as a fixed unit, with the article on the second element: ṭir l-lil, with no article added before ṭir. By extension, and playfully, it can be applied to someone who lives at night, stays out late or doesn't sleep. The pitfall is to understand it as "owl": owls have their own names, and ṭir l-lil refers first and foremost to the bat.
Example
دخل علينا طير الليل للدار البارح
dkhel 3lina ṭir l-lil l-dar lbare7
“A bat got into our house last night.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tir lil” but also “tir l-lil” and “tir llil”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.