chalal شلل
Tunisian Derja · noun
“chalal” (شلل) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning paralysis (medical).
Meanings
- paralysis (medical)
- total standstill of an activity
Usage
Chalal refers first of all to paralysis in the medical sense. Typical constructions are jèh chalal or sar 3andou chalal (he became paralyzed), or chalal nosfi (hemiplegia). Figuratively, chalal tèm is used for a country, a service or a city that is completely blocked, for example during a strike or a general outage. This figurative sense is frequent in the media and in discussions of current events. The word comes from the standard register but is well integrated into derja. The corresponding adjective is mchallel, "paralyzed".
Example
جدي جاه شلل في ساقو.
jeddi jeh chalal fi sa9ou.
“My grandfather suffered paralysis in his leg.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chalal” but also “chelel”, “shalal” and “chlel”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “chalal” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “paralysis”; “standstill, paralysis (figurative)”: chalal in Moroccan.