ferma فيرمة
Algerian Darja · noun
“ferma” (فيرمة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning farm, agricultural holding.
Meanings
- farm, agricultural holding
- rural estate, property
Usage
Firma, or ferma, is a adapted loanword from French "ferme". It is the everyday word for a farm and the land around it. You often hear it in phrases like 3andou firma, "he owns a farm", or khdem fel firma, "he works on the farm". The former farming estates of the colonial era are also called this. The most common plural is fermat. The word has nothing to do with Spanish firma, which means "signature".
Example
عمي عندو فيرمة كبيرة في متيجة.
3ammi 3andou firma kbira f Mitidja.
“My uncle has a big farm in the Mitidja.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ferma” but also “firma” and “fermma”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “ferma” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
The same word also exists in Moroccan Darija, written فيرما, where it means “farm, agricultural holding”: firma in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “farm, agricultural operation”; “country property”: firma in Tunisian.