qla3 قلع
Tunisian Derja · verb
“qla3” (قلع) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to pull out, extract.
Meanings
- to pull out, extract
- to take off, remove
Usage
Qla3 (present yaqla3) means to pull out or extract something from where it is fixed. It is used for a tooth, qla3 sinnou ("he had a tooth pulled out"), for a plant or a nail. It can also mean to take off or remove something. The gloss "to guess" given by some sources does not match Tunisian usage. The verb is directly transitive. The q is often pronounced g in rural and Southern speech (gla3), and is commonly written 9 in arabizi.
Example
مشيت للطبيب وقلعلي ضرسة
mchit lettbib w qla3li dharsa
“I went to the doctor and he pulled out a molar for me.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “qla3” but also “9la3”, “gla3” and “kla3”. 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; 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “qla3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “guess! (prompt)”; “to pull out, uproot”: 9elle3 in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to take off, remove”; “to pull out, uproot”: gla3 in Algerian.