9dami قدامي

Algerian Darja · adjective

“9dami” (قدامي) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning front, forward.

Meanings

1. front, forward
2. in front of me

Usage

This word can be read two ways. Qeddami (fem. qeddamia) is an adjective: "front, forward", for example sef qeddami (the front row), the front wheel or the front seat (korsi qeddami). Read as qoddami, it is the preposition qoddam (in front of) followed by the pronoun -i: "in front of me" ("kan wa9ef qoddami", he was standing in front of me). Depending on the region, the q is pronounced 9 or g (goddam, geddami). The opposite of qeddami is lour or lourani (rear, back). Context is usually enough to decide between the two readings.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9dami” but also “9edami”, “goddami”, “qoddami” and “gedami”. 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 “9dami” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “in front of me”; “front, forward (adjective)”: 9ddami in Moroccan.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “in front of me, facing me”; “front, forward (adjective)”: 9odemi in Tunisian.