s2el سال
Tunisian Derja · verb
“s2el” (سال) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to ask, ask a question.
Meanings
- to ask, ask a question
- to ask after (s2el 3la)
- to be owed money by someone
Usage
Sal (or s2al) is conjugated in the present as yes2el, and the negative is ma yes2elch. With 3la, it means "to ask after, check on": ma s2elch 3liya, he didn't ask after me. A usage specific to Tunisian concerns debts: yselni flous means "he has money to claim from me", so I am the one who owes him. An English speaker often reverses the meaning. Likewise, 9addech tselni ? means "how much do I owe you?"
Example
ياخي ولّى يسال علينا ... و عليه ؟
ya5i walla yes2el 3lina ... wou 3lih ?
“Well, well, he's started asking after us... and what about him?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “s2el” but also “sal”, “sa2el”, “yes2el” and “sel”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop.
Type “s2el” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to ask, to ask after someone”; “to be owed money”: sal in Algerian.