9am قام
Tunisian Derja · verb
“9am” (قام) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to get up, to stand up.
Meanings
- to get up, to stand up
- to wake up
- to carry out, to fulfil (9am b)
Usage
9am first means "to get up", in the sense of standing up or getting out of bed. The present is y9oum and the imperative is 9oum (9oumi for the feminine). One says 9omt bekri for "I got up early". Followed by b, it takes a more formal meaning: 9am b wejbou, "he did his duty". 9am el lil means to spend the night in prayer. Note that the q of Standard Arabic is pronounced here as an emphatic q, written 9 in arabizi, and not as a g.
Example
قمت بكري اليوم
9omt bekri lyoum
“I got up early today.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9am” but also “qam” and “kam”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.