3oloum علوم
Moroccan Darija · noun
“3oloum” (علوم) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning sciences.
Meanings
- sciences
- science (school subject)
Usage
Plural of 3ilm (science, knowledge), used mainly in school and university contexts. People say l-3ulum for the subject taught at school, chou3bat l-3ulum for the science track, or kulliyat l-3ulum for the faculty of sciences. In these contexts, many Moroccans also use the French words "sciences" or "SVT". The word remains in an educated register. It is almost always used with the article l-, often in a construct phrase: mat7af l-3ulum, ostad l-3ulum.
Example
مشا ل متحف ل علوم
mcha l mt7ef l 3ouloum
“He went to the science museum.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3oloum” but also “3ouloum”, “3olom” and “3ulum”. 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.