jadarmi جدارمي
Algerian Darja · noun
“jadarmi” (جدارمي) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning gendarme.
Meanings
- gendarme
Usage
Jadarmi refers to a member of the Algerian National Gendarmerie. This corps is mainly present on the roads and outside the big cities, whereas the police (boulisiya) operate in town. It is a French loanword fully adapted to darja and in daily use. The plural jadarmiya also refers to the institution in general: jaw el jadarmiya ("the gendarmes came"). In a more formal or administrative register, darak is heard for the gendarmerie. The word is neutral, but it often appears in accounts of roadblocks and checks.
Example
حبسني الجدارمي في الباراج
7absni el jadarmi fel barage
“The gendarme stopped me at the roadblock.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jadarmi” but also “djadarmi”, “jadermi”, “djadermi” and “jadarmia”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “jadarmi” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “gendarme”: jadarmi in Moroccan.