9mel قمل
Moroccan Darija · noun
“9mel” (قمل) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning lice.
Meanings
- lice
Usage
Qmel is a collective noun meaning lice in general. To speak of a single louse, the singular noun qemla is used. The word is very common, especially about schoolchildren: you say fih l-qmel, "he has lice". It is also used figuratively and contemptuously for a wretched or petty person; this sense remains colloquial. Pitfall: the collective often takes a singular agreement in darija, even though it is translated by a plural in English.
Example
الدراري جابو القمل من المدرسة
drari jabo l9mel men lmadrasa
“The kids brought lice home from school.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9mel” but also “qmel” and “9ml”. 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.