tilifon تليفون
Moroccan Darija · noun
“tilifon” (تليفون) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning phone, mobile phone.
Meanings
- phone, mobile phone
Usage
The word tilifon is a borrowing from French, fully integrated into darija. Today it mainly refers to the mobile phone. It is used with the article l: t-tilifon. Several verbs often go with it: tfa t-tilifon (turn off the phone), chaarj t-tilifon (charge it), dreb tilifon l… (call someone). You also hear portable, or lbortabl. In writing, many users keep the French spelling "telephone". The most common plural is tilifonat.
Example
آه تفيت تليفون
ah tfit telefon
“Yes, I turned off my phone.”
Forms
| plural | tilifonat |
|---|
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tilifon” but also “telefon” and “tilifoun”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “tilifon” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “telephone”; “phone call”: tilifoun in Tunisian.