thoum ثوم
Tunisian Derja · noun
“thoum” (ثوم) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning garlic.
Meanings
- garlic
Usage
Thoum is the ordinary word for garlic, omnipresent in Tunisian cooking: harissa, sauces, chakchouka, fish dishes. A head of garlic is "ras thoum" and a clove is "sinna thoum" or "fass thoum". It is a collective noun: you count heads or cloves rather than saying "garlics". The smell of garlic often comes up in jokes ("ri7et ethoum"). In everyday pronunciation, the "th" can become "t": you then hear toum. The word is neutral and used in all registers.
Example
زيد شوية ثوم للصلصة
zid chwaya thoum lel salsa
“Add a little garlic to the sauce.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “thoum” but also “toum”, “thom” and “thum”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.