mousem موسم
Tunisian Derja · noun
“mousem” (موسم) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning season of an activity or harvest.
Meanings
- season of an activity or harvest
- yearly period of an event
Usage
Mousem refers to the time of year devoted to an activity, especially an agricultural one: mousem ezzitoun (the olive season), mousem el ghalla (the harvest season). It is also used for other periods that recur every year: the summer season, the wedding season, the sports season. It does not refer to the four calendar seasons, which are named directly (essif, echta…). Note the similar word "moussem": in Morocco it also means a regional religious festival, a sense that is not the primary one in Tunisia. The plural is mwessem.
Example
موسم الزيتون بدا، الناس الكل في الغابة.
mousem ezzitoun bda, ennes el kol fil ghaba.
“The olive season has started, everyone is in the olive groves.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mousem” but also “mousam”, “mawsem”, “mosem” and “mousim”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.