l9awech لقاوش
Tunisian Derja · verb
“l9awech” (لقاوش) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning they didn't find.
Meanings
- they didn't find
Usage
Lqawech is the negative form of lqaw, "they found", in the third person plural past, with the negative suffix -ch. The full negation is ma lqawech, with ma before the verb and -ch at the end. In speech, ma is often dropped: one then hears mazal lqawech, "they still haven't found". The verb lqa means "to find". It takes its object directly, without a preposition: lqaw dwa, "they found a remedy".
Example
قلبوا الدار الكل وما لقاوش المفاتح.
9allbou e dar lkol w ma l9awech lmfete7.
“They turned the whole house upside down and didn't find the keys.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “l9awech” but also “lqawech”, “l9awch” and “lgawech”. 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.