qsem قسم
Algerian Darja · verb
“qsem” (قسم) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to share, divide, distribute.
Meanings
- to share, divide, distribute
- oath (qsem billah, I swear)
- class, section, department
Usage
As a verb, qsem means "to share, divide": qsem lkhobza ("share the bread"), qsem lbled ("divide the country"). Imperfect yaqsem, imperative aqsem. The word also very often appears in the expression qsem billah, "I swear by God", which reinforces a statement, often jokingly, alongside wallah. As a noun, qism means a school class or section, or an administrative department; the French "classe" or "département" are also widely used. The meaning is deduced from context, since Arabic script does not distinguish these words.
Example
قسم الكاسكروت بيناتكم
qsem lcasse-croute binatkoum
“Share the sandwich among yourselves.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “qsem” but also “9sem”, “ksem”, “gsem” and “9ism”. 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 “qsem” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to share, divide”; “five-minute unit (telling time)”: 9sem in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to share, divide”; “to distribute among several”: 9assem in Tunisian.