alef الاف
Tunisian Derja · noun
“alef” (الاف) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning thousands.
Meanings
- thousands
- thousands of, countless
Usage
Alef (or allef) is the plural of alf (thousand). It denotes a quantity of several thousand and is built directly with a noun: alef ennes (thousands of people). With a number from three to ten, it follows that number: tletha alef (three thousand). Beyond that, it goes back to the singular alf: 3ochrin alf. In conversation, it is also used to exaggerate: 9oltlek alef marra (I've told you a thousand times). Be careful not to confuse it with the letter alif, which is sometimes written the same way in arabizi.
Example
جاو آلاف الناس للمهرجان
jew alef ennes lel mahrajen
“Thousands of people came to the festival.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “alef” but also “allef”, “alaf” and “elef”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “alef” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “thousands; thousand (after a number)”: alaf in Moroccan.