chnhouma شنهومة
Tunisian Derja · pronoun
“chnhouma” (شنهومة) is a pronoun in Tunisian Derja meaning what, what things (plural).
Meanings
- what, what things (plural)
Usage
Chnouma is the plural form of the interrogative pronoun, built on ech + houma, "what are they". It is used when the question is about several things: chnouma les problèmes ? ("what are the problems?"). It corresponds to chnouwa in the masculine singular and chniya in the feminine. In everyday speech, many people just use chnouwa or chniya, even in the plural. Chnouma is therefore less common. The spelling with h simply reflects the word's origin.
Example
شنهوما الحاجات اللي لازمك؟
chnouma el 7ajet elli lazmek?
“What are the things you need?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, it is written “chnhouma”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.