fe3il فاعل
Tunisian Derja · noun
“fe3il” (فاعل) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning one who does, perpetrator of an act.
Meanings
- one who does, perpetrator of an act
- subject (in grammar)
Usage
Fe3il refers to the one who carries out an action. It is found mostly as a complement of an action noun, in fixed phrases: fe3il el-khir (the benefactor, one who does good), fe3il ech-cher (one who does evil). These expressions often come from proverbs, songs or moral formulas. Used on its own, the word is rare in everyday conversation. People say "elli 3mal" (the one who did) instead. At school, fe3il is also the grammatical term for the subject of the verb. It does not mean "worker": for that, use khaddem.
Example
ربي يجازي فاعل الخير
rabbi yjazi fe3il el-khir
“May God reward the benefactor.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “fe3il” but also “fe3el”, “fa3il” and “fa3el”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.