9ale9 قالق
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“9ale9” (قالق) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning bored, fed up.
Meanings
- bored, fed up
- annoyed, upset
- worried, anxious
Usage
9ale9, feminine 9al9a and plural 9al9in, is a trap. It resembles the standard Arabic word for "worried", but in Tunisian it first means "bored, fed up". 9ale9 fil khedma means "I'm bored, I'm fed up at work". Depending on context, it can also mean "annoyed, in a bad mood" or, more rarely, "worried". It is used with a preposition: 9ale9 men (fed up with something or someone). The verb is 9la9 (to be bored), and the noun 9ala9 means boredom.
Example
قعدت وحدي في الدار، قالق برشا.
9a3adt wa7di fi dar, 9ale9 barcha.
“I stayed home alone, I'm very bored.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9ale9” but also “9aleq”, “qaleq”, “kalek” and “9al9”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.