elli الي
Tunisian Derja · pronoun
“elli” (الي) is a pronoun in Tunisian Derja meaning who, which, that (relative).
Meanings
- who, which, that (relative)
- that (conjunction)
- the one who, what
Usage
Elli is the single relative pronoun of Tunisian. It is invariable in gender and number, and serves as both subject and object: ettfol elli ja ("the child who came"), el ktab elli chrit ("the book that I bought"). Used alone, it means "the one who" or "what": elli y7eb yji ymarhba ("whoever wants to come is welcome"). In colloquial speech, it also introduces a complement clause, like "that" after a verb of speaking. In writing, one often finds eli or li.
Example
الطفل اللي جا البارح ولد خالتي
ettfol elli ja lbare7 weld khalti
“The boy who came yesterday is my cousin.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “elli” but also “eli”, “li”, “illi”, “lli” and “ili”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find الي and اللي, all the same word.
Type “elli” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
The same word also exists in Algerian Darja, written اللي, where it means “who, which, that (relative)”; “the one who, what”: li in Algerian.