ma7kma محكمة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“ma7kma” (محكمة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning court.
Meanings
- court
- courthouse (the building)
Usage
Ma7kma means the court, both as an institution and as a building. The word is shared by Tunisian and Standard Arabic and is used freely in conversation. People say mchit lel ma7kma ("I went to the court"), 3andou ma7kma ("he has a hearing, a trial"), or hezzou lel ma7kma ("they dragged him to court"). Administrative expressions such as ma7kma ibtida'iyya (court of first instance) or ma7kmet el isti'nef (court of appeal) remain close to the official language. The plural is ma7akem. The register is neutral.
Example
غدوة عندو جلسة في المحكمة
ghodwa 3andou jalsa fil ma7kma
“Tomorrow he has a hearing at the court.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ma7kma” but also “mahkma”, “ma7kama”, “mahkama” and “m7kma”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “ma7kma” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “court, courthouse”: me7kama in Moroccan.