5lè خلا
Tunisian Derja · noun
“5lè” (خلا) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning deserted place, empty expanse.
Meanings
- deserted place, empty expanse
- open countryside, outdoors
Usage
"El 5lè" refers to an uninhabited space: wasteland, steppe, desert, countryside with no houses. For example, "fil 5lè" means out in the wilds, far from everything. Do not confuse it with the verb "5alla", to leave or to allow, which is often written the same way in Arabic without vowels and in arabizi, as in "5alla wasiya", he left a will. Context almost always settles it. The expression "5lè w 9ifar" reinforces the idea of a desolate place.
Example
خلا و قفار
5lè w 9ifaaaar
“Nothing but desert and barren land.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “5lè” but also “5la”, “khla”, “5le” and “khle”. 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 “5lè” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to leave (somewhere)”; “to let, allow”: khlla in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to leave, to quit”; “to let, to allow”: khalla in Algerian.