mokalama مكالمة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“mokalama” (مكالمة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning phone call.
Meanings
- phone call
Usage
A feminine noun from Standard Arabic, in a somewhat refined register: it is heard in professional settings, in mobile operator advertisements, or on the radio. In informal conversation, people more readily say appel or use the verb 3iyyet (to call). Typical constructions are dewwez mokalama (make a call) and 3ndi mokalama m3a (I have a call with). The plural is mokalamat. The word refers to a phone call or a video conference, not a face-to-face conversation.
Example
عندي مكالمة مع البيرو في الرباط في أقل من 15 دقيقة.
3ndi mokalama m3a lbiro f Rbat f 9ell mn 15 d9i9a.
“I have a call with the office in Rabat in less than 15 minutes.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mokalama” but also “mokaalama”, “mukalama” and “moukalama”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mokalama” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “phone call”; “phone conversation”: mkalma in Tunisian.