belli بلي

Tunisian Derja · pronoun

“belli” (بلي) is a pronoun in Tunisian Derja meaning with what, of what.

Meanings

1. with what, of what
2. with the one who, with those who
3. that (introducing a clause)

Usage

B'elli is the contraction of the preposition b (with, by, of) and the relative elli (who, that, what). It is used when the verb or expression calls for the preposition b: a3mel b'elli 3andek (make do with what you have), farhan b'elli sar (happy about what happened). With a verb like t'hebb, it takes the sense of "as you like, whatever you want". The word is very common in speech and in writing on social media. Pitfall for an English speaker: do not read it as a standalone word. Its meaning depends on the preposition the verb requires, and the English translation changes from case to case: "with", "of" or "by".

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “belli” but also “billi” and “bli”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “belli” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “that (complement clause)”: belli in Algerian.