ichara إشارة

Moroccan Darija · noun

“ichara” (إشارة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning signal, network (phone, radio).

Meanings

1. signal, network (phone, radio)
2. sign, gesture
3. hint, indication

Usage

Ichara is a feminine noun borrowed from Standard Arabic and well integrated into darija. It is used for the signal of a phone or an antenna (ma3ndich ichara, "I have no signal"), for a gesture of the hand or head (dar lih ichara, "he signaled to him") and, figuratively, for a hint or clue. With the article, it is often said l-ichara. For the phone network, many speakers also say réseau, borrowed from French. The register is neutral and common, in speech and in writing.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ichara” but also “ishara”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “ichara” on the Arabic keyboard

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “sign, gesture”; “road sign, traffic light”: ichara in Tunisian.