iqama اقامة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“iqama” (اقامة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning residence, official address.
Meanings
- residence, official address
- stay
- residential complex
Usage
Iqèma is first of all an administrative word. It appears in "chhèdet iqèma" (certificate of residence), in "bitèqet iqèma" (residence permit) and in "iqèma jabriya" (house arrest). It also means "stay", notably in hotel phrases such as "iqèma tayba" (have a good stay). To talk about a complex of buildings, the French word "résidence" is most often used, sometimes "iqèma". The register remains formal: to say where one lives, "nouskon" or "9a3ed fi" is preferred.
Example
لازمني شهادة إقامة من البلدية.
lèzmni chhèdet iqèma mel baladiya.
“I need a certificate of residence from the town hall.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “iqama” but also “ikama”, “i9ama”, “iqema” and “e9ama”. 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.
Type “iqama” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “residence, residential complex”; “stay, being resident somewhere”: i9ama in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “stay, residence (status)”; “residence permit”: iqama in Algerian.