5ayel خيال
Tunisian Derja · noun
“5ayel” (خيال) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning imagination.
Meanings
- imagination
- fiction, unreal thing
- silhouette, glimpsed shadow
Usage
5ayel refers to the imagination and, by extension, to what is not real. Moujarrad 5ayel or ma7dh 5ayel ("pure imagination") are used to dismiss an idea considered unrealistic. 5ayel 3elmi is science fiction. In spoken language, 5yel can also refer to a silhouette or shape glimpsed vaguely: chouft 5yel ("I saw a silhouette"). Do not confuse it with 5ayyal ("horseman"), which is pronounced with a doubled y.
Example
عندو خيال واسع برشا
3andou 5ayel wase3 barcha
“He has a very vast imagination.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “5ayel” but also “5yal”, “khayel”, “5ayal” and “khyal”. 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 “5ayel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “silhouette, glimpsed shadow”; “imagination”: khyal in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “imagination, fiction”; “image or silhouette of someone”: khyal in Algerian.