gout قوت
Tunisian Derja · noun
“gout” (قوت) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning food, means of living.
Meanings
- food, means of living
- daily livelihood
Usage
The word gout means basic food, what lets you live from day to day. It is heard mostly in the expression gout yoummou, "his daily bread", for example when talking about people who work to feed their families. It often appears in complaints about the cost of living or hardship. The register is somewhat elevated or sententious: for ordinary food, people usually say mekla. Its pronunciation with a hard g is typical of Tunisian speech.
Example
يخدم نهار كامل باش يجيب قوت صغارو.
yekhdem nhar kamel bech yjib gout sgharou.
“He works all day to bring in food for his children.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “gout” but also “9out”, “qout” and “kout”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.