7ouch حوش
Tunisian Derja · noun
“7ouch” (حوش) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning house (especially in the South and the Sahel).
Meanings
- house (especially in the South and the Sahel)
- traditional courtyard house
Usage
7ouch means the house, in particular the traditional house organised around a courtyard. The word is used mainly in the South, in Sfax and in several inland regions, whereas in Tunis people tend to say dar. El 7ouch can also mean the family home, the parents' house: rja3 lel 7ouch (he went back home). The common plural is 7wech. Note: the same Arabic spelling can correspond to the verb 7awwech (to gather, to collect), which is a different word.
Example
مشيت للحوش متاع جدّي في العطلة.
mchit lel 7ouch mta3 jeddi fel 3otla.
“I went to my grandfather's house during the holiday.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7ouch” but also “houch”, “7ouech” and “7ooch”. 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.