Greetings
عسلامة / Aslema
as-LE-ma
Hello — the distinctively Tunisian greeting, used far more than the pan-Arab 'salam'. Saying it marks you out as someone who has been here a while.
لاباس؟ / Labes?
la-BES
'All good?' — question and answer both. The standard opening, repeated back.
Daily life
برشة / Barsha
BAR-sha
'A lot' or 'too much'. The Tunisian equivalent of Morocco's bezzaf and just as useful.
بطاقة الإقامة / Carte de séjour
kart duh say-ZHOOR
The residence card, obtained at the Sûreté Nationale district for your address. Required beyond three consecutive months — or six non-consecutive months in a year.
لواج / Louage
loo-AZH
The shared inter-city minibus. Leaves when full, no timetable, and the cheapest way to reach anywhere in the country.
تاكسي / Taxi jaune
TAK-si
The yellow metered city taxi. Insist on the compteur; the night tariff is legitimately higher and shown on the meter.
Work
دينار / Dinar
dee-NAR
The Tunisian dinar. Non-convertible: it is illegal to take dinar banknotes out of the country, and there is no free market in it abroad.
غير مقيم / Non-résident
non ray-zee-DON
A company status, not a place of living. A non-resident, fully-exporting company may hold foreign-currency accounts — the key to billing clients abroad from Tunis.
Social
يعطيك الصحة / Yaatik essaha
ya-a-TEEK es-SA-ha
'May God give you health' — thanks for work done. Said to a waiter, a taxi driver, a builder. Using it changes the temperature of an interaction.
شنوة / Chnowa?
shno-WA
'What?' — pure Tunisian, unintelligible to a Gulf Arabic speaker, and a good marker of how far Tunisian derja sits from standard Arabic.
Emergency
197 / 190 / 198
—
197 for police secours, 190 for SAMU ambulance, 198 for the protection civile. 193 is the Garde Nationale, which polices outside the cities.
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