jma3a جماعة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“jma3a” (جماعة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning group, band of people.
Meanings
- group, band of people
- municipality (local authority)
- people, community
Usage
Jma3a refers to a gathering of people: a group of friends, a team, an assembly. People say "m3a jjma3a" for "with the others, with the group". In administrative usage, "jjma3a" is also the commune, meaning the town hall or local authority: "mcha l jjma3a" means to go to the commune for an administrative procedure, such as having a signature certified. Context tells the two senses apart. Avoid translating it systematically as "community", which is a more abstract term. The word is common in all registers.
Example
دخيا ندامجتي مع جماعة تبارك الله
d5ya ndamejti m3a jma3a tbarklah
“You quickly blended in with a group, tbarklah.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jma3a” but also “jama3a”, “jmaa” and “jmaa3a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “jma3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “group, band of people”; “(vocative) guys, everyone”: jma3a in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “group, gang”; “friends, guys (address)”: jma3a in Tunisian.