zmen زمان
Tunisian Derja · noun
“zmen” (زمان) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning the past, bygone days.
Meanings
- the past, bygone days
- time, duration
- era, times
Usage
Zmen refers first of all to the past, often with nostalgia: ayem zmen, "the good old days", or nas zmen, "the people of the past". Men zmen means "for a long time" or "a long time ago", depending on the sentence. It can also refer to a length of time: se3a men zmen, "an hour's time". On its own, it refers to the era or the course of things: ezzmen tbadel, "times have changed". Note: it is not the usual word for the time of day or for the weather. Use wa9t for the moment and la meteo or ej-jaw for the weather.
Example
يا حسرة على ايام زمان
ya 7asra 3la ayem zamen
“Oh, how I miss the days of old!”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “zmen” but also “zamen”, “zman”, “zaman” and “zmèn”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find زمان and زمن, all the same word.