tilifoun تلفون
Algerian Darja · noun
“tilifoun” (تلفون) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning telephone, mobile phone.
Meanings
- telephone, mobile phone
- phone call
Usage
Tilifoun is the adapted loanword from French "téléphone", used throughout Algeria for both mobile and landline phones. People often also say portable. Common constructions: dreb tilifoun, "to make a phone call"; aâyetli f tilifoun, "call me on the phone"; tilifoun taâi, "my phone". The word is masculine. The pronunciation is Arabised: short vowels, stress on the last syllable. When writing in Latin letters, many people keep the French spelling, which does not change the fact that it is a fully integrated Darja word.
Example
نسيت تلفون في الدار
nsit tilifoun fe dar
“I forgot my phone at home.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tilifoun” but also “tlifoun”, “telfoun”, “tilifon” and “telefoun”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find تلفون and تيليفون, all the same word.
Type “tilifoun” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “telephone (mobile or landline)”; “phone call”: tilifoun in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “telephone (device)”; “phone call”: telifoun in Tunisian.