bidou بيدو
Tunisian Derja · pronoun
“bidou” (بيدو) is a pronoun in Tunisian Derja meaning himself, in person.
Meanings
- himself, in person
- with his own hand
Usage
Bidou is formed from the preposition b- ("with, by"), the word for "hand" and the suffix -ou ("his"). It is mainly used to stress the identity of a person or thing: "himself, in person, the real one". It comes after the noun or pronoun it reinforces: houwa bidou ("he himself"). It takes the other suffixes: bidi (myself), bidek (yourself), bidha (herself), bidhom (themselves). The register is colloquial and common. The literal sense "with his hand" also exists but is rarer.
Example
جا المدير بيدو باش يحكي معانا
ja el modir bidou bech ye7ki m3ana
“The director himself came to talk to us.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bidou” but also “bido”, “biddou” and “bidu”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bidou” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “by his hand, with his hand”; “himself, in person”: byeddou in Algerian.