tofla طفلة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“tofla” (طفلة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning girl, little girl.
Meanings
- girl, little girl
- young woman, unmarried girl
- girlfriend (colloquial)
Usage
Tofla is the usual word for a girl, from childhood to adulthood as long as she is unmarried. One says tofla sghira for a little girl and tofla behya for a pretty girl. The plural is bnet or twafel depending on the region. The corresponding masculine is tfol (boy). Pitfall: it is not "daughter" in the sense of family relation. For "my daughter", one says benti. Among young people, 3andou tofla can mean "he has a girlfriend".
Example
الطفلة هاذي تقرا معايا في نفس القسم
ettofla hedhi te9ra m3aya fi nafs el 9esm
“This girl is in the same class as me.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tofla” but also “tefla”, “tfla”, “toufla” and “tofl”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find طفلة and تفلة, all the same word.