lil ليل
Tunisian Derja · noun
“lil” (ليل) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning night.
Meanings
- night
- evening, night-time
Usage
Lil means night, as opposed to nhar (day). With the article, it becomes ellil: ta7 ellil, "night has fallen". It appears in several expressions: lil w nhar or lil m3a nhar (day and night, nonstop) and fi ellil (at night, during the night). To refer to a specific night, you use lila: el lila hedhi (tonight). The form lili, in ya lili, is a song refrain and not an everyday usage. Good night is said with tosba7 3la khir.
Example
هاذي كان ما طاح علينا الليل , ما نعرفوش وين باش نباتوا .
hethi ken mata7 3lina ellil , mana3rfouch win bch nbetou .
“If night falls on us, we won't know where we'll spend the night.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lil” but also “leil”, “lill”, “leel” and “ellil”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “lil” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “night (period)”: lil in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “night”; “at night, during the night (adverbial)”: lil in Algerian.