mokhabarat مخابرات
Tunisian Derja · noun
“mokhabarat” (مخابرات) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning intelligence services.
Meanings
- intelligence services
- espionage, surveillance
Usage
The word mokhabarat comes from the standard register and is commonly used in derja. It refers to the secret services or state intelligence services. It often appears in "jhez mokhabarat" ("intelligence apparatus") and in political or conspiracy-minded conversations. Jokingly, one says "enti mokhabarat?" to someone who asks too many questions or knows everything about everyone. The word is grammatically plural: it has the value of a collective. To refer to a single agent, one says "wa7ed mel mokhabarat".
Example
علاش تسأل برشا؟ إنتي مخابرات ولا شنوة؟
3lech tes2el barcha? enti mokhabarat walla chnowa?
“Why are you asking so many questions? Are you intelligence services or what?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mokhabarat” but also “mokhabaret”, “mo5abarat”, “mukhabarat” and “m5abrat”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.