hkem حكم
Algerian Darja · verb
“hkem” (حكم) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to catch, grab, hold.
Meanings
- to catch, grab, hold
- to rule, govern
- (noun hokm) rule, regime; ruling
Usage
In Darja, hkem first means to catch or to grab: hkemtou (I caught him), hkem el ballon. This sense is very common in everyday speech. The verb also keeps the meaning of ruling: hkem el bled. The noun hokm means rule or regime (hokm Boumediene), and also a religious or legal decision or judgment. Lhakem is the ruler or the referee. The imperative is ahkem (catch). The register is neutral.
Example
البوليسية حكمو السرّاق
lboulissia hekmou esserrak
“The police caught the thief.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hkem” but also “7kem”, “hkam”, “hakem” and “7kam”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “hkem” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to rule, govern, control”; “to judge, rule on”: 7kem in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “judgment, decision, decree”; “rule, regime, government”: 7kom in Tunisian.