mo7it محيط
Tunisian Derja · noun
“mo7it” (محيط) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning milieu, surroundings.
Meanings
- milieu, surroundings
- ocean
Usage
Mo7it comes from Standard Arabic and is in common use in Tunisia. In the social sense, it refers to a person's milieu or entourage: "el mo7it mta3ou khayeb", "his surroundings are bad". It often comes up when talking about upbringing or the company someone keeps. In the geographical sense, it means "ocean", for example in "el mo7it el atlasi", "the Atlantic Ocean". For the environment in the ecological sense, people usually say "el bi2a". The register is everyday, slightly more formal than average Derja.
Example
المحيط متاعو هو اللي خربو
el mo7it mte3ou howa elli kharbou
“It's his surroundings that ruined him.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mo7it” but also “mouhit”, “mohit” and “mou7it”. 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 “mo7it” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “environment, surroundings”; “ocean”: mo7it in Moroccan.