chkoun شكون
Moroccan Darija · pronoun
“chkoun” (شكون) is a pronoun in Moroccan Darija meaning who (interrogative).
Meanings
- who (interrogative)
- who (indirect question)
- who? (interrogative)
Usage
Chkoun is the interrogative pronoun for a person. It is used in direct questions (chkoun nta? "who are you?") as well as in indirect questions (ma 3reftch chkoun ja "I don't know who came"). It is often followed by li for emphasis: chkoun li gal lik? "who is it that told you that?". It does not vary in gender or number. For a thing, chkoun is not used but ach or chnou. The short form chkon is also very common in writing.
Example
شوفي شكون جا
choufi chkoun ja
“Look who came.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chkoun” but also “chkon”, “shkoun”, “shkon”, “chkun” and “achkoun”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find شكون and اشكون, all the same word.
Type “chkoun” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “who (interrogative)”: chkoun in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “who (interrogative)”; “someone (in "famma chkoun")”: chkoun in Tunisian.