tkallef تكلف
Tunisian Derja · verb
“tkallef” (تكلف) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to cost, be worth a price.
Meanings
- to cost, be worth a price
- to take charge of (tkallef b)
Usage
The verb tkallef is used mainly to ask or state a price. The typical question is "9addech tkallef?" (how much does it cost?), with the item as the subject. In the past, one says "kallfetni barcha" (it cost me a lot), with the pronoun of the person who pays. Constructed with b, "tkallef b" means to take charge of a task or a person, to take responsibility for it. This is the sense rendered by English "handle". This sense is more administrative or formal. It should not be confused with the French "se coltiner": it is not used for a chore one has to endure. The verb belongs to the standard everyday register.
Example
قداش تكلف الكسوة هاذي؟
9addech tkallef el keswa hedhi?
“How much does this dress cost?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tkallef” but also “tkalef”, “tkellef”, “tkelef” and “tkallif”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “tkallef” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “take charge of, handle”; “be put in charge of a task”: tkellef in Moroccan.