jamous جاموس
Moroccan Darija · noun
“jamous” (جاموس) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning buffalo, water buffalo.
Meanings
- buffalo, water buffalo
Usage
Jamous means the buffalo, a large horned bovine. In Morocco the animal is not ordinary livestock: the word is used mostly when talking about wildlife documentaries, zoos or foreign countries. For a cow, say bgra, and for a bull, tour or 3jel depending on age. So it should not be used for just any domestic cattle. The word is masculine. The usual plural is jwamis. It normally takes the article: l-jamous, "the buffalo". The register is neutral, in speech as well as in informal writing.
Example
شفت جاموس كبير فالوثائقي ديال البارح.
chft jamous kbir f l-watha2iqi dyal lbare7.
“I saw a huge buffalo in yesterday's documentary.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jamous” but also “jamouss”, “jamos”, “jamus” and “jamouse”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.