tilifoun تلفون
Moroccan Darija · noun
“tilifoun” (تلفون) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning telephone (mobile or landline).
Meanings
- telephone (mobile or landline)
- phone call
Usage
Tilifun is a loanword from French, fully adapted and in common use. It refers to both the mobile phone and the landline, although portabl is often used for a mobile. To say "to call someone", you say dreb lih tilifun, or more simply 3iyyet 3lih. The word is also used for the call itself: ja-ni tilifun, "I got a phone call". For a phone that is out of order, you say tilifun khasser, "the phone is broken". Spellings vary widely online.
Example
تلفون ره خاصاع
telfon rh khasaer
“The phone is broken.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tilifoun” but also “telefon”, “tlifoun”, “telfon” and “tilifon”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “tilifoun” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “telephone, mobile phone”; “phone call”: tilifoun in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “telephone (device)”; “phone call”: telifoun in Tunisian.