tsellel تسلّل
Moroccan Darija · verb
“tsellel” (تسلّل) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to sneak in, slip in.
Meanings
- to sneak in, slip in
- to be offside (football)
Usage
Tsellel means "to sneak in" or "to enter or pass discreetly" without being noticed. It takes l- or men: tsellel l-dakhel, "to slip inside", tsellel men l-bab, "to sneak in through the door". It is used for a child sneaking out, a thief, or someone slipping between people. In football commentary, the noun tasallul or the verb means offside, borrowed from standard sports vocabulary. Don't confuse it with tselleq, "to climb", which sounds similar.
Example
أنا غادي ن تسلّل باش نخلعو
ana ghadi n tsellel bach n5el3ou
“I'm going to sneak up behind him to scare him.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kantsellel | tsellelt | |
| nta (you, m.) | kattsellel | tsellelti | tsellel |
| nti (you, f.) | kattselleli | tsellelti | tselleli |
| howa (he) | kaytsellel | tsellel | |
| hiya (she) | kattsellel | tsellelat | |
| 7na (we) | kantsellelo | tsellelna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | kattsellelo | tsellelto | tsellelo |
| homa (they) | kaytsellelo | tsellelo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tsellel” but also “tsallal”, “tsll” and “tselel”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.