ghla غلا

Tunisian Derja · verb

“ghla” (غلا) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to boil.

Meanings

1. to boil
2. to become expensive
3. to seethe with anger

Usage

Ghla covers two verbs that are close in form. Ghla, yaghli means to boil: water, milk, a sauce ("el ma ghla"). Ghla, yaghla means to become expensive: "kol chay ghla" (everything has gone up). Context tells them apart. Figuratively, an angry person is said to have boiling blood. The noun "ghla" means the high cost of living, and also affection or sentimental value ("ghlek 3andi", you are dear to me), especially in songs. To make something boil, use "ghalla".

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ghla” but also “8la”, “ghli”, “yaghli”, “ghlé” and “ghle”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find غلا and غلى, all the same word.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.

Type “ghla” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to become expensive, rise (prices)”; “to boil”: ghla in Moroccan.