achkoun اشكون
Tunisian Derja · pronoun
“achkoun” (اشكون) is a pronoun in Tunisian Derja meaning who? (interrogative).
Meanings
- who? (interrogative)
Usage
Achkoun is the interrogative pronoun "who?" in Tunisian. It usually comes at the start of a sentence: "achkoun jé?" (who came?), "achkoun inti?" (who are you?). It can also come at the end for emphasis: "jé achkoun?". It is often heard in a shortened form, chkoun, very common in speech and in writing. It is not used as a relative pronoun: for "the person who", elli is used. On the phone or at the door, "achkoun?" is the usual way to ask who is there.
Example
آشكون اللي دق على الباب؟
achkoun elli de99 3al beb?
“Who knocked at the door?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “achkoun” but also “chkoun”, “ashkoun”, “achkon” and “chkon”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “achkoun” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
The same word also exists in Moroccan Darija, written شكون, where it means “who (interrogative)”; “who (indirect question)”: chkoun in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “who? (interrogative)”; “whoever, the one who”: achkoun in Algerian.