7kouma حكومة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“7kouma” (حكومة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning government.
Meanings
- government
- the state, the authorities
Usage
7koumа refers to the government in the political sense (el-7koumа ejdida, "the new government"). In everyday conversation, it refers more broadly to the state or public authorities, often in a critical or resigned tone: el-7koumа ma3malet chay, "the state has done nothing". The word comes from Standard Arabic and is used as is in Tounsi, with a local pronunciation (7koumа, initial vowel often reduced). It is frequent in the media, political debates and conversations about current events. The plural 7koumèt is rare in speech.
Example
الحكومة الجديدة ما بدّلت شي
el 7koumа ejdida ma baddlet chay
“The new government hasn't changed anything.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7kouma” but also “7oukouma”, “hkouma”, “7koma” and “7oukoume”. 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 “7kouma” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “government”; “the state, the authorities”: 7okouma in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “government”; “the authorities, the state”: hokouma in Algerian.