3amnawel عمناول
Tunisian Derja · adverb
“3amnawel” (عمناول) is an adverb in Tunisian Derja meaning last year.
Meanings
- last year
Usage
The word 3amnawel means "last year". It is the common adverb for placing an event in the previous year. It is used alone, without a preposition: jina 3amnawel ("we came last year"). It can also be used with a noun to qualify a date: sif 3amnawel ("last summer"), ramdhan 3amnawel. For "this year", one says el3am; for "next year", el3am ejjey. It is a typically Tunisian word, whatever the register of the conversation.
Example
مشينا لجربة عمناول في الصيف
mchina l jerba 3amnawel fi essif
“We went to Djerba last year, in the summer.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3amnawel” but also “3amnewel”, “aamnawel” and “3amnawal”. 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.