chemm شم
Moroccan Darija · verb
“chemm” (شم) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to smell, sniff a scent.
Meanings
- to smell, sniff a scent
- to get some fresh air (chemm lhwa)
Usage
Chemm is the usual verb for deliberately smelling a scent, that is, sniffing. It is transitive: chemm had lwerda (smell this flower). In the present you say kanchemm, kaychemm; the imperative is chemm. The expression chemm lhwa means "to get some fresh air": you go out to air yourself out and relax, often after being cooped up inside. Note: to say that something gives off a smell, you do not use chemm. You say fiha riha or kat3ti riha. So chemm describes the action of the person smelling, not the smell itself.
Example
خرج شم ريحت البحر
5rej chem ri7t lb7er
“Go out and smell the scent of the sea.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanchmm | chmmit | |
| nta (you, m.) | katchmm | chmmiti | chmm |
| nti (you, f.) | katchmmi | chmmiti | chmmi |
| howa (he) | kaychmm | chm | |
| hiya (she) | katchmm | chmmat | |
| 7na (we) | kanchmmo | chmmina | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katchmmo | chmmito | chmmo |
| homa (they) | kaychmmo | chmmo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chemm” but also “chem”, “chm”, “chmm” and “shemm”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “chemm” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to smell, to sniff (a scent)”; “to sniff out, to suspect something”: chamm in Tunisian.