maskoun مسكون
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“maskoun” (مسكون) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning possessed by a jinn.
Meanings
- possessed by a jinn
- haunted (place)
- obsessed with something
Usage
Maskoun describes a person believed to be inhabited by a jinn, or a place reputed to be haunted: "dar maskouna", a haunted house. The word belongs to the vocabulary of folk beliefs and is used both seriously and jokingly about someone behaving strangely. By extension, "maskoun b" followed by a noun means to be obsessed with something. The feminine is "maskouna". For an English speaker, it should be distinguished from "inhabited", a sense that exists in standard Arabic but in Tunisian conversation almost always evokes the supernatural.
Example
ما تدخلش للدار هاذيكا، يقولو مسكونة.
ma tod5olch lel dar hedhika, y9oulou maskouna.
“Don't go into that house, they say it's haunted.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “maskoun” but also “meskoun”, “mskoun” and “maskoon”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.