sham3a شمعة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“sham3a” (شمعة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning candle.
Meanings
- candle
- candle (festive, birthday)
Usage
Sham3a means an ordinary candle, the kind lit during a power cut, on a birthday cake or at a celebration. The usual plural is shma3. The word is the same as in standard Arabic and belongs to a neutral register. It is used with ach3el (to light) and tfa (to put out): ach3el sham3a, tfi sham3a. Birthday candles are also called shma3 el 3id miled. The word never refers to an engine's spark plug, which is called bouji, borrowed from French.
Example
الضو قص، ولّع شمعة.
ed-dhaw 9as, walla3 sham3a.
“The power is out, light a candle.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sham3a” but also “cham3a”, “chem3a”, “shem3a” and “cham3aa”. 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 “sham3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “candle”: chem3a in Moroccan.