7imeya حماية
Tunisian Derja · noun
“7imeya” (حماية) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning protection.
Meanings
- protection
- safety (service, system)
Usage
7imeya means "protection" and belongs to a rather formal, often administrative register. It is heard mostly in "el 7imeya el madaniya", civil protection (firefighters and rescue), which you call in case of fire or accident. It also appears in "7imeyet el mosta7lek" (consumer protection) or "7imeyet el bi2a" (environmental protection). In everyday language, to say "to protect someone", verbs like "7ma" or "dhra" are used instead. The 7 in arabizi stands for the strongly aspirated h.
Example
عيّط للحماية المدنية، الدار تشعل!
3ayyet lel 7imeya el madaniya, eddar tech3el!
“Call civil protection, the house is on fire!”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7imeya” but also “7imaya”, “7meya” and “7imeyet”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “7imeya” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “protection”; “defence, safeguarding”: 7imaya in Moroccan.