derja دارجة

Tunisian Derja · noun

“derja” (دارجة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning colloquial Arabic, dialect.

Meanings

1. colloquial Arabic, dialect
2. Tunisian Arabic

Usage

Derja refers to the everyday spoken language, as opposed to literary Arabic (el fos7a). People often say "derja tounsia" to specify Tunisian Arabic. The word is used when talking about language: "ye7ki bel derja" (he speaks in dialect), "ktib bel derja" (to write in dialect, often in arabizi). It carries no pejorative connotation. Note: derja does not mean "slang". It is simply the everyday language, used across all social backgrounds. In a Tunisian's mouth, the word alone first refers to Tunisian.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “derja” but also “darja”, “derija”, “edderja” and “dérja”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “derja” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “Algerian Arabic dialect”; “spoken language, as opposed to written”: darja in Algerian.