dmou3 دموع
Tunisian Derja · noun
“dmou3” (دموع) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning tears.
Meanings
- tears
Usage
Dmou3 is the plural of dam3a, "tear". It is mostly used in the plural to talk about crying: dmou3ou hbtou, "his tears fell". The word also appears in figurative expressions: dmou3 tmase7, "crocodile tears", for hypocritical crying. It can also be compared to rain to say that someone is crying abundantly. The usual verb for "to cry" is bka, and people tend to say "his eyes cried" rather than "shed tears". The register is neutral, and the word is used in speech as well as in songs.
Example
دموعها هبطو كي سمعت الخبر
dmou3ha hbtou ki sem3et le5bar
“Her tears fell when she heard the news.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dmou3” but also “dmo3” and “dmu3”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “dmou3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “tears”: dmou3 in Moroccan.