battal بطال
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“battal” (بطال) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning without a job, unemployed.
Meanings
- without a job, unemployed
- idle, doing nothing
Usage
Battal mainly refers to a person without work: you say ana battal for "I am unemployed". The word is used as an adjective or as a noun (el battala, "the unemployed"), and the issue of graduate unemployment gives it a strong presence in conversation and the media. In a colloquial register, it can also mean "idle", "doing nothing at the moment". Be careful not to confuse it with bettel, "to stop, take a break", or with bil-batel, "for free". The spelling batel online may in fact refer to the latter.
Example
ولدي بطّال من عامين
weldi battal men 3amein
“My son has been unemployed for two years.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “battal” but also “batal”, “bataal” and “batel”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.