jou3 جوع
Tunisian Derja · noun
“jou3” (جوع) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning hunger.
Meanings
- hunger
- famine, starvation
Usage
Jou3 is the usual word for "hunger". It appears in very common expressions: mitt bel jou3, "I'm dying of hunger", and idhrab jou3, "hunger strike". To say "I'm hungry", the verb or adjective is used instead: jit, ana jî3an. The word is also used to speak of destitution and poverty, for example in the expression ymout bel jou3, "to die of hunger". The register is neutral.
Example
ما كليت شي من الصباح، باش نموت بالجوع.
ma kliit chay mel sbe7, bech nmout bel jou3.
“I haven't eaten anything since this morning, I'm dying of hunger.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jou3” but also “jo3” and “jouu3”. 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 “jou3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “hunger”; “destitution, poverty”: jou3 in Moroccan.