jaych جيش
Tunisian Derja · noun
“jaych” (جيش) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning army.
Meanings
- army
- crowd, great number (colloquial)
Usage
Jaych refers to the army, in particular the Tunisian national army, called el jaych el watani. The navy is called jaych el ba7r. Doing military service is often expressed as mcha lel 3askriya rather than with jaych. In a colloquial register, jaych can be used to exaggerate a large number of people, like "an army" in English: jebou jaych, "they brought a whole army of people". The word is the same as in standard Arabic and poses no difficulty; it belongs equally to the language of the media and to conversation.
Example
خوه يخدم في الجيش في الجنوب.
khouh yekhdem fel jaych fel janoub.
“His brother works in the army, in the South.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jaych” but also “jaich”, “jeych” and “jaysh”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.