walla ولا

Tunisian Derja · conjunction

“walla” (ولا) is a conjunction in Tunisian Derja meaning or.

Meanings

1. or
2. to become
3. to come back

Usage

Walla is first of all the conjunction "or": "t7eb 9ahwa walla tey ?". At the end of a question, "walla lé ?" means "yes or no?". This word is also a verb, written the same way in Arabic. Wallé means "to become": "wallé kbir" (he has grown up). It also means "to come back": "wallé lel dar" (he went back home). Finally, "wala" means "nor" after a negation: "ma kla wala chreb" (he neither ate nor drank). Only context distinguishes these uses.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “walla” but also “wala”, “wella”, “wela”, “wla” and “wila”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “walla” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to become”; “to start (doing)”: wla in Moroccan.

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to become”; “or (conjunction)”: wella in Algerian.