7ouma حومة

Moroccan Darija · noun

“7ouma” (حومة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning neighborhood (where one lives).

Meanings

1. neighborhood (where one lives)

Usage

7ouma refers to the neighborhood as a space of daily life and sociability: the neighbors, the street, the nearby shops. The expression wlad l7ouma, "the guys from the neighborhood", expresses a strong sense of belonging, often affectionate or supportive. The plural is 7wem. The word is more familiar and more charged with identity than 7ay, which is used mainly in official and administrative names. So you say "fin katskon ? f 7ouma dyal…" to place someone.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7ouma” but also “7oma”, “houma”, “7ouuma” and “homa”. 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 “7ouma” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “neighborhood, district”; “people of the neighborhood”: 7ouma in Algerian.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “neighborhood”; “people of the neighborhood”: 7ouma in Tunisian.

How to say “neighborhood” in Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian