boulis بوليس
Tunisian Derja · noun
“boulis” (بوليس) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning police (the institution).
Meanings
- police (the institution)
- police officer
Usage
Boulis is a loanword from French, fully integrated into everyday speech. It refers to the police as an institution, and also to an individual officer: "jé boulis", "a police officer came". For several officers, people say "el boulisiyya" or simply "el boulis". The expression "boulis bel zayy" refers to an officer in uniform, as opposed to plainclothes officers. The word is neutral, but it often appears in critical remarks about relations between the public and law enforcement. In the media, "el amn" (security) is generally preferred.
Example
كي نشوف شصار بين شعب وال بوليس ,
ki nchouf chsar bin cha3b wil boulis ,
“When I see what happened between the people and the police,”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “boulis” but also “bolis”, “poulis” and “boulice”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “boulis” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “the police”; “police officers (collective)”: bolis in Moroccan.