jami3a جامعة
Algerian Darja · noun
“jami3a” (جامعة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning university.
Meanings
- university
- campus, uni
Usage
Jami3a means the university, both the institution and the place. One says "nakra f jami3a" (I study at university) or "jami3a ta3 Bab Ezzouar". Among young people, the French word "la fac" is very common and often preferred in speech, whereas jami3a appears more in formal registers, in writing and in the media. A student is talab, plural tolba, or "étudiant" in French. Jami3a should not be confused with jame3, which means the mosque.
Example
بنتي قرات في الجامعة تاع وهران
benti kraat f jami3a ta3 Wahran
“My daughter studied at the University of Oran.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jami3a” but also “jam3a”, “djami3a” and “jami3aa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “jami3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “university, uni”: jami3a in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “university”; “federation (sports)”: jem3a in Tunisian.