9awem قاوم
Tunisian Derja · verb
“9awem” (قاوم) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to resist, to fight against.
Meanings
- to resist, to fight against
- to hold out, to endure
Usage
9awem means to resist. It takes a direct object: 9awem el isti3mar, "he resisted colonialism." The verb often appears in historical and political discourse about the struggle for independence, in a fairly formal register. In conversation it is also used for resisting an illness, fatigue, or a temptation. The present is y9awem and the corresponding noun is mou9awma, "resistance." Unlike in English, it requires no preposition like "to."
Example
جدّي قاوم فرنسا وهو صغير.
jeddi 9awem fransa w houa sghir.
“My grandfather resisted France when he was young.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9awem” but also “kawem”, “qawem” and “9awim”. 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.
Type “9awem” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “resist, oppose”; “hold out, endure”: 9awem in Moroccan.