3am عام
Tunisian Derja · noun
“3am” (عام) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning year.
Meanings
- year
- general, public
- paternal uncle
Usage
3am means year. It appears in several common expressions. "Kol 3am w enti b5ir" is the greeting for holidays and birthdays. "El 3am ejjey" means "next year"; "3amnewwel" means "last year". The plural is snin. As an adjective, 3am means "general, public", as in "9ayyem 3am" (head supervisor) or "el masl7a el 3amma" (the public interest). This sense belongs more to an administrative or formal register. The verb "to swim" is a different word and is not commonly used in this form in Derja.
Example
العام الجاي نكمّل قرايتي
el 3am ejjey nkammel 9raiti
“Next year I finish my studies.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3am” but also “aam”, “3aam”, “3amm”, “3ammi” and “am”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find عام and عم, all the same word.
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.
Type “3am” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “year”; “to swim (verb 3am, y3oum)”: 3am in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “year”; “he swam (verb 3am)”: 3am in Algerian.