3la jal على جال

Tunisian Derja · preposition

“3la jal” (على جال) is a preposition in Tunisian Derja meaning for, for the sake of.

Meanings

1. for, for the sake of
2. because of

Usage

3la jal is a very common prepositional phrase in Tunisian. It expresses the cause or the beneficiary of an action: you do something "for" someone, or something happens "because of" them. It is often combined with a suffixed pronoun: 3la jalek (for you), 3la jalha (for her), 3la jalkom (for you, plural). It is also used before a noun: 3la jal el flous (for the money). The register is informal to neutral. Do not confuse it with the simple "l" (for, to), which mainly marks destination. 3la jal stresses emotional motivation or the reason.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3la jal” but also “3ala jal”, “3la jel”, “a3la jal” and “3al jal”. 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.

Type “3la jal” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “because of, on account of”; “for, for the sake of”: 3la djal in Algerian.