portable بورطابل

Tunisian Derja · noun

“portable” (بورطابل) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning mobile phone, cell phone.

Meanings

1. mobile phone, cell phone
2. mobile number

Usage

Portable is the most common French-derived loanword, adapted into Tunisian, for the mobile phone in Tunisia. It is pronounced "portabl", with a rolled r, and is used in all registers of conversation. One says "nomrou mta3 portable" for the mobile number, as opposed to the landline. The usual plural is "portablet". In more formal registers or in official writing, "hatef jawwal" or "hatef" is found, but in speech portable dominates. It is masculine: "el portable mte3i tkasser" (my mobile has broken).

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “portable” but also “portabl”, “bortabl” and “bourtabl”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “portable” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “mobile phone”: portable in Algerian.

How to say “mobile phone” in Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian