dimo9ratiya ديمقراطية
Tunisian Derja · noun
“dimo9ratiya” (ديمقراطية) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning democracy.
Meanings
- democracy
- democratic (attributive)
Usage
Dimo9ratiya is a learned word from Standard Arabic that has become very common in Tunisia in political debates and on social media. In conversation, it is often heard pronounced the French way, démocratie, alternating with the Arabic form. It frequently appears in an ironic or critical register, for example hédhi dimo9ratiya ? ("this is democracy?"). The adjective is dimo9rati, feminine dimo9ratiya, hence the resemblance to the noun: dawla dimo9ratiya means "a democratic state".
Example
الديمقراطية ماهيش كان انتخابات.
eddimo9ratiya mahich ken intikhabet.
“Democracy is not just elections.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dimo9ratiya” but also “dimokratia” and “dimo9ratia”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “dimo9ratiya” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “democracy”: dimo9ratiya in Moroccan.