som3a سمعة
Moroccan Darija · noun
“som3a” (سمعة) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning reputation.
Meanings
- reputation
- standing, honour (of a family)
Usage
Som3a refers to the reputation of a person, a family, a business or a brand. It is used with adjectives: som3a zwina or mezyana for a good reputation, som3a khayba for a bad one. The word often touches on family honour, a notion very present in Morocco: khesser som3to, "he tarnished his reputation", or som3at l3a2ila, "the family's reputation". It is also used for a product: had lmarka 3ndha som3a. The register is everyday and slightly formal, but not literary.
Example
عندو سمعة زوينة
3ndou soum3a zwina
“He has a good reputation.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “som3a” but also “soum3a”, “sum3a” and “sem3a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.