ichara اشارة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“ichara” (اشارة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning sign, gesture.
Meanings
- sign, gesture
- road sign, traffic light
- signal, hint
Usage
Ichara first refers to a gesture made to communicate: "3mal ichara b'idou", he signaled with his hand. The word is also used for road signage, in ichara mta3 l'mourour, which is more common in writing or on the radio. In the street, for the traffic light, people say "le feu" or "dhaw" instead. Ichara can also mean a hint or a signal in the figurative sense, as in "hedhi ichara mlé7a", that's a good sign. The plural is ichéret. In arabizi, the doubled r (icharra) is only a spelling matter: it is not heard in speech.
Example
عملّي إشارة بيدو باش نستنّاه.
3malli ichara b'idou bech nestannéh.
“He signaled to me with his hand to wait for him.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ichara” but also “ishara”, “echara”, “icharra” and “icharrat”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “ichara” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “signal, network (phone, radio)”; “sign, gesture”: ichara in Moroccan.