chnowa شنوا
Tunisian Derja · pronoun
“chnowa” (شنوا) is a pronoun in Tunisian Derja meaning what.
Meanings
- what
- which, what (before a noun)
- what is
Usage
Chnowa is the basic interrogative pronoun of Tunisian, equivalent to "what". It is generally placed at the start of a question: "chnowa t7eb?" (what do you want?), "chnowa raykom?" (what is your opinion?). There is a feminine form, chniya, used when referring to a feminine noun: "chniya esmha?". On its own, it also asks for something to be repeated, like "what?". Do not confuse it with chbik (what's wrong with you) or kifech (how).
Example
شنوّة تحبّ تاكل اليوم؟
chnowa t7eb takel lyoum ?
“What do you want to eat today?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chnowa” but also “chnoua”, “chnouwa”, “chnwa”, “shnowa” and “achnowa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find شنوا and اشنوا and شنو and شنوة and شنوى, all the same word.
Type “chnowa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
The same word also exists in Moroccan Darija, written شنو, where it means “what”; “which, what kind of”: chno in Moroccan.