chnhouwa شنهوة
Tunisian Derja · pronoun
“chnhouwa” (شنهوة) is a pronoun in Tunisian Derja meaning what (masculine).
Meanings
- what (masculine)
- what (subject)
Usage
Chnouwa is the interrogative pronoun "what". The spelling with h reflects its origin, ech + houwa, "what is it (he)". It agrees in principle with what it refers to: chnouwa for a masculine noun, chniya for a feminine one. In conversation, chnouwa also serves as a neutral form: chnouwa t7eb ? ("what do you want?"). On its own it can sound blunt, like "what?" in English. You soften it with chnouwa ya khouya ? It goes at the start of the sentence, unlike the final "what?" of spoken English.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, it is written “chnhouwa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.