jhaz جهاز
Tunisian Derja · noun
“jhaz” (جهاز) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning device, appliance.
Meanings
- device, appliance
- bride's trousseau
- apparatus, organization (political, security)
Usage
Jhaz is used first for a device, electrical or electronic: a television, a telephone, medical equipment. In the context of marriage, it refers to the future bride's trousseau: linen, dishes, furniture that she brings to the household. One then says "tjahhez" for preparing this trousseau. In political and media discourse, it also has the sense of a state apparatus or organization, for example jhaz el amn (the security apparatus) or "le jhaz sirri", the secret apparatus spoken of in connection with certain parties. Context tells you which sense is meant.
Example
الجهاز هذا ما عادش يخدم
ej-jhaz hedha ma 3adech yekhdem
“This device doesn't work anymore.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jhaz” but also “jhez”, “jihaz” and “jhèz”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.