mafhoum مفهوم
Algerian Darja · adjective
“mafhoum” (مفهوم) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning understood, clear.
Meanings
- understood, clear
- understandable
- notion, concept
Usage
Mafhoum means "understood, clear". On its own, with a rising intonation, it is equivalent to "understood?" or "is that clear?", often in an authoritative tone (parent, teacher). It is also used to say that something is understandable: "lkalam mafhoum" (what is said is clear), "machi mafhoum" (it's not clear, we don't understand). The sense of "notion, concept" belongs to Standard Arabic and to school or journalistic registers; in everyday speech it is heard mostly as an adjective. For "I understood", people more often say fhemt.
Example
الكلام تاعو مفهوم، ما فيه حتى مشكل
lkalam ta3ou mafhoum, ma fih hatta mochkil
“What he says is clear, there's no problem at all.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mafhoum” but also “mefhoum”, “mafhum” and “mafhom”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mafhoum” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “understandable, clear”; “notion, concept”: mfhoum in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “understood, understandable, clear”; “notion, concept”: mafhoum in Tunisian.