sadaqa صداقة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“sadaqa” (صداقة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning friendship.
Meanings
- friendship
Usage
Sadaqa means "friendship". The word comes from Standard Arabic and belongs to a somewhat formal register: it is heard in the media, speeches, songs, or when talking about relations between countries. In everyday conversation, Tunisians more readily say s7ouba or simply speak of s7ab (friends). You find expressions such as "sadaqa mta3 snin" (a friendship of many years). Pitfall: do not confuse it with sadaqa, "alms", which is distinguished in Arabic by the emphatic letter s and a different form.
Example
بيناتهم صداقة متاع سنين
binethom sadaqa mta3 snin
“They have a friendship of many years.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sadaqa” but also “sada9a”, “sadaka”, “sde9a” and “sdaqa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “sadaqa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “friendship”: sadaqa in Moroccan.