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)

1. (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

• ange
• gola
• skvallra

Derived terms

• tjall
• tjallare

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