chikaya شكاية
Moroccan Darija · noun
“chikaya” (شكاية) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning complaint, grievance.
Meanings
- complaint, grievance
- legal complaint
Usage
Chikaya refers to a formal complaint or grievance addressed to an administration, a company, the police or the courts. The typical construction is dar chikaya, "to file a complaint", followed by l- or 3la for the target: dar chikaya 3lih, "he filed a complaint against him". The term is in a somewhat more formal register than the verb chka, and is often found in an administrative context. For a simple spoken grumble between friends or family, the verb is used instead. The plural is chikayat.
Example
ألا نجينا غادي ندير شكاية ل شركة ت الطيران
ala njina ghadi ndir chikaya l charika t Tayaran
“If we make it out, I'm going to file a complaint against the airline.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chikaya” but also “chekaya”, “shikaya”, “chkaya” and “chikaia”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “chikaya” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “complaint (formal)”; “claim, grievance”: chkeya in Tunisian.