mofaja2a مفاجأة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“mofaja2a” (مفاجأة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning surprise (gift, party).
Meanings
- surprise (gift, party)
- surprise, unexpected event
Usage
Mofaja2a comes from Standard Arabic but is in common use in darija. The typical construction is dar l- … mofaja2a, "to surprise someone": "dar liya mofaja2a". The word also refers to an unexpected meeting or piece of news, often as an exclamation: "mofaja2a hadi !", what a surprise! The plural is mofaja2at. The glottal stop (written 2) is often weak in speech, hence pronunciations like mofaja. In French-speaking circles, people also simply say "surprise".
Example
دار ليا مفاجأة
dar liyya mofaja2a
“He surprised me.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mofaja2a” but also “moufaja2a”, “mofaja”, “mufaja2a” and “mofaja2”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop.
Type “mofaja2a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “surprise”; “surprise gift or party”: mfej2a in Tunisian.