Darija lesson 54: became, got, turned into

1

Twenty-three words

Verbs of change, and history words: dynasties, capitals, protectorate, independence.

Changing

وَلَّى wella to become; get; turn
The lesson's verb. Defective: wellit, wellat, wellaw.
كْبَرْ kber to grow up; get bigger
تْبَدّْلْ tbeddel to change
Form V from lesson 43.
رْجَعْ rje3 to become again
rje3 mzyan, got better again.
طَاحْ ta7 to fall
A dynasty, a government.
نَاضْ nad to get up; rise
Hollow: nod!, get up. Also “rise up”.

History

التَّارِيخْ t-tarikh history
الدَّوْلَة d-dawla state; dynasty
Plural d-duwal.
الْعَاصِمَة l-3asima capital
السُّلْطَانْ s-sultan sultan
الْمَلِكْ l-malik king
The title since independence.
الْحِمَايَة l-7imaya protectorate
“Protection”.
الِاسْتِقْلَالْ l-istiqlal independence

Making history

بْنَى bna to build
حْكَمْ 7kem to rule
أَسّْسْ asses to found
Form II.
دْخَلْ dkhel to enter
dkhel ta7t, come under.

How and when

الْقَرْنْ l-qern century
Ordinals, lesson 71: t-tamen, eighth; l-7adesh, eleventh.
مُسْتَقِلّْ mustaqill independent
قْوِي qwi strong
ضْعِيفْ d3if weak
مَنْ دَاكْ الْوَقْتْ men dak l-weqt since then
شْوِيَّة بْشْوِيَّة shwiya b shwiya little by little

2

wella

Four changes: of job, of price, of habit and of rank. One verb in all four.

خُويَا قْرَا وْ وَلَّى طْبِيبْkhuya qra w wella tbib
الْحْيَاة وَلَّاتْ غَالْيَةl-7ayat wellat ghalya
مْلِّي كْبَرْ، وَلَّى كَيْخْدَمْ مْعَ بَّاهْmlli kber, wella kaykhdem m3a bbah
فَاسْ وَلَّاتْ الْعَاصِمَة دْيَالْ الدَّوْلَةFas wellat l-3asima dyal d-dawla

Which English verb would you use in each? And in Darija?

The rule

wella says something turns into something else. It's defective: wellit, wella, wellat, wellaw; present kaywelli.

With a noun or adjective: wella tbib, he became a doctor; wellat ghalya, it's got expensive. The adjective agrees.

With a present verb: start doing something as a habit. wella kaykhdem, he's started working, now he works.

And more specific change verbs: kber, grow; tbeddel, change; rje3, become again.

One verb for five

Sentence	Say it	Means
وَلَّى طْبِيبْ	wella tbib	he became a doctor
وَلَّاتْ غَالْيَة	wellat ghalya	it's got expensive
وَلَّاوْ كَيْخْدْمُو	wellaw kaykhedmu	they've started working
كَيْوَلِّي	kaywelli	it becomes (habitually)
غَادِي يْوَلِّي	ghadi ywelli	it will become
كْبَرْ وْ وَلَّى رَاجْلْ	kber w wella rajel	he grew up and became a man
رْجَعْ مْزْيَانْ	rje3 mzyan	he's got better again
تْبَدّْلَاتْ بْزَّافْ	tbeddlat bzzaf	she's changed a lot

English column: become, get, start, grow. Arabic column: nearly always wella.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: “become”. A general change verb you already use for jobs and states. wella is that.

Costly: “get” + adjective. “Got expensive”, “getting cold”: in your head it's not “become”, but in Darija it's wella.

Costly: “make” for “become” (“he'll make a good doctor”): not dar.

Your mistake, not someone else's

“He made himself a doctor”, “made it big”: English leaks “make” into change, and dar is “make”. dar tbib sounds like he manufactured one.

×خُويَا دَارْ طْبِيبْ“My brother made a doctor”.

✓خُويَا وَلَّى طْبِيبْ“My brother became a doctor”.

And “go” + adjective (go blind, go grey): also wella.

3

Moroccan history in seven lines

A miniature history of Morocco, shaped like an ary.wikipedia article, with dates that are general knowledge. Twelve centuries in seven sentences, and almost every one has a wella.

تَارِيخْ الْمَغْرِبْ فْسَبْعْ سْطُورْ

فْالْقَرْنْ التَّامْنْ، إِدْرِيسْ اللّْوّْلْ جَا لْلْمَغْرِبْ وْ أَسّْسْ دَوْلَة جْدِيدَة.

فَاسْ تّْبْنَاتْ فْدَاكْ الْوَقْتْ، وْ شْوِيَّة بْشْوِيَّة وَلَّاتْ مْدِينَة دْيَالْ الْعِلْمْ.

فْالْقَرْنْ الْحَادْشْ، الْمُرَابْطِينْ بْنَاوْ مْرَّاكْشْ، وْ هِيَ وَلَّاتْ الْعَاصِمَة دْيَالْهُمْ.

الدّْوَلْ تْبَدّْلُو: الْمُوَحّْدِينْ، الْمَرِينِيِّينْ، السَّعْدِيِّينْ، وْ مْنْ الْقَرْنْ السّْبَعْطَاشْ الْعَلَوِيِّينْ.

فْعَامْ 1912، الْمَغْرِبْ دْخَلْ تَحْتْ الْحِمَايَة الْفْرَانْسَاوِيَّة وْ الصّْبْلْيُونِيَّة.

فْعَامْ 1956، الْمَغْرِبْ رْجَعْ مُسْتَقِلّْ، وْ الرّْبَاطْ وَلَّاتْ الْعَاصِمَة.

Moroccan history in seven lines

Did you follow?

Who founded the first state, and when?
Show answers
Idris I, in the eighth century.
What did Fez become?
Show answers
A city of learning.
Who built Marrakech?
Show answers
The Almoravids, in the eleventh century.
What happened in 1912 and 1956?
Show answers
In 1912 the French and Spanish protectorate began; in 1956 Morocco became independent again.

4

Check

Two here, three more in the B1 book.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the B1 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Fill in

With the form of wella the subject needs. No vowels.

ولىولاتولاوكيولي

خويا ___ أستاذ
المدينة ___ كبيرة بزاف
الدراري ___ كيهضرو الفرانسية
فالصيف الجو ___ سخون بزاف

2True or false?

According to the history.

Idris I founded a state in the eighth century.
The Almoravids built Fez.
The protectorate began in 1912.
After independence, Fez became the capital.

3What changed?

Sum up the change with wella or rje3.

كَانْ طَالِبْ. دَابَا طْبِيبْ.

The rest is in the B1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

4Put in order

Build each sentence. No vowels.

مدينةفاسالعلمولاتديال

The rest is in the B1 book

2 more items, with the answers.

The B1 book

5Your town has changed

In five sentences, say how your town or neighbourhood has changed.

وَلَّىتْبَدّْلْكْبَرْرْجَعْشْوِيَّة بْشْوِيَّة

The rest is in the B1 book

The B1 book

Show answers

1. Fill in	ولى · ولات · ولاو · كيولي
2. True or false?	1-True, 2-False, 3-True, 4-False

The B1 book: In preparation

Write and I will tell you the day it is out. One email, no list.

Tell me when it is out

I can now

Say what something became with wella.
Say someone started doing something: wella kay-.
Describe change with kber, tbeddel, rje3.
Sum up Moroccan history in key dates.