houma هوما
Tunisian Derja · pronoun
“houma” (هوما) is a pronoun in Tunisian Derja meaning they, them.
Meanings
- they, them
- they are (plural copula)
Usage
Houma is the third-person plural subject pronoun. It covers both masculine and feminine, since darija does not distinguish "they" (masculine) from "they" (feminine). It is used for emphasis or contrast: "houma jew, ena la" (they came, I didn't). Since the verb already carries the person marking, it is often omitted. It also serves as a copula between a plural subject and its predicate: "hwayeti houma…" (my hobbies are…). After a preposition or a verb, houma is not used but the suffix -hom: "m3ahom" (with them).
Example
هوما جاو البارح
houma jew lbere7
“They came yesterday.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “houma” but also “homa”, “huma”, “hooma” and “houmma”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “houma” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “they (masculine or feminine)”; “them (emphatic form)”: homa in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “they”; “them (emphatic form)”: houma in Algerian.