jem3a جامعة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“jem3a” (جامعة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning university.
Meanings
- university
- federation (sports)
Usage
The noun jem3a refers to the university as an institution, for example "jem3a tounsiya" (Tunisian university). To talk about the faculty or school where one studies, students readily say "la fac" or "el kolliya". With the article, "el jem3a" also commonly means the federation, especially the football federation, in sports language. Context resolves the ambiguity. The register is neutral and fairly close to Standard Arabic. The plural is jem3at.
Example
أختي تقرا في الجامعة في سوسة.
okhti ta9ra fel jem3a f sousse.
“My sister studies at the university in Sousse.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jem3a” but also “jam3a”, “jemaa”, “jamaa” and “jem3et”. 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 “jem3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “university, uni”: jami3a in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “university”; “campus, uni”: jami3a in Algerian.