ina3am اينعم
Tunisian Derja · interjection
“ina3am” (اينعم) is an interjection in Tunisian Derja meaning yes, indeed.
Meanings
- yes, indeed
- admittedly (concession)
Usage
Ey na3am combines ey, the everyday Tunisian "yes", and na3am, which is more formal. It expresses polite or emphatic agreement, for example when answering someone who calls you or when addressing a customer. It is also used at the start of a sentence to concede a point before objecting: ey na3am, ama..., "admittedly, but...". The tone is a bit more courteous than plain ey, without being formal. In writing, it appears as either one word or two.
Example
– فاطمة؟ – إي نعم، شنوة تحب؟
– fatma ? – ey na3am, chnowa t7eb ?
“– Fatma? – Yes, what do you want?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ina3am” but also “eyna3am”. 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.