tjalla

Swedish

Etymology

From Tavringer Romani tjalla (“inform on”), probably from Romani xalo (“fraud, impostor, non-Romani”). Related to Sanskrit छलिन् (chalin, “cheat, swindler, fraud”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /²ɕala/
Rhymes: -ala

Verb

tjalla (present tjallar, preterite tjallade, supine tjallat, imperative tjalla)

(colloquial) to inform on, to snitch; often to someone of authority, such as the police

Usage notes

More general compared to gola, which implies crime. You might "tjalla för läraren" (squeal to the teacher), for example. Situated between skvallra and gola on the scale of telling on someone to criminals ratting each other out.

Conjugation

Conjugation of tjalla (weak)

	Active		Passive
Infinitive	tjalla		tjallas
Supine	tjallat		tjallats
Imperative	tjalla		—
Imper. plural¹	tjallen		—
	Present	Past	Present	Past
Indicative	tjallar	tjallade	tjallas	tjallades
Ind. plural¹	tjalla	tjallade	tjallas	tjallades
Subjunctive²	tjalle	tjallade	tjalles	tjallades
	Participles
Present participle	tjallande
Past participle	tjallad
¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

tjalla in Svensk ordbok (SO)
tjalla in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
tjalla in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Gerd Carling (2005) “tjalla”, in Romani i svenskan: Storstadsslang och standardspråk, Stockholm: Carlsson, →ISBN, page 104

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