mwa7la موحلة
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“mwa7la” (موحلة) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning stuck, bogged down, blocked.
Meanings
- stuck, bogged down, blocked
- in trouble, in a fix
- messed up, complicated (matter)
Usage
Mwa7la is the feminine of mwa77al, participle of the verb wa77al, which means to get bogged down, literally and figuratively. The first sense is concrete: a car stuck in the mud or a blocked wheel. The word is very often used figuratively for a person in trouble or for a hopeless situation. It also refers to a blocked, crowded or busy place. It belongs to the informal, everyday register. It is constructed with fi: mwa77al fi mochkla, "stuck in a problem". The construction ta7t wa77la is not an established form and should not be used. Watch the agreement: mwa77al in the masculine, mwa7la in the feminine, mwa7lin in the plural.
Example
الكرهبة موحلة في الطين
el karhba mwa7la fi ettin
“The car is stuck in the mud.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mwa7la” but also “mwa77la”, “mwahla” and “mouwa7la”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.