Hchouma

What it is

Hchouma (ḥchouma) is a word of Moroccan Darija that Rahma Bourqia (Mohammed V University, Rabat) renders with the double term “modesty and shame”; it denotes both a person’s situation and the feeling they experience in it¹. Its meaning changes with the context and has shifted from traditional to present-day Moroccan society².

Richard S. Harrell’s dictionary of Moroccan Arabic (Georgetown University, 1966) breaks the word down into four meanings: embarrassment, disgrace, shyness and modesty in dress; the exclamation ḥšuma ʿlik! means “you ought to be ashamed”³. The same root gives the verb ḥšem, “to be ashamed, embarrassed or shy, not to dare”, the adjective ḥešman, “ashamed, embarrassed, shy”, and ḥešma, “modesty, shyness”⁴. A piece of behaviour can bring ḥchouma not only on the person responsible but also on their family⁵.

A Peace Corps textbook translates the word simply as “shame”: “had shi hshouma” means “that’s a shame”, “hshouma ʿlik” roughly “shame on you”⁶.

Where it comes from

Classical Arabic does not know the word ḥchouma, but it does know ḥishma, with the meanings modesty, respect, chastity, reserve, virtue, politeness and humility⁷. Hans Wehr’s dictionary gives for ḥišma “shame, shyness, reserve, modesty, decency” and for the verb ḥašama “to put to shame”, in the derived forms “to be ashamed to face someone, to be reserved, modest, shy”⁸.

Related concepts such as ḥishma and al-ḥayāʾ exist in Arab societies; Bourqia therefore sees ḥchouma as rooted both in the Arab and in the Moroccan tradition⁹.

When

Ḥchouma is said of an act or behaviour that breaks the norms of the community, such as infidelity, a lie, fraud, a broken promise or a lack of respect for one’s parents¹⁰. It weighs less in matters of manners, for example a child who does not say hello, or a guest who is not offered at least a glass of tea; then it means an omission rather than a disgrace¹¹.

During Ramadan, eating in public is socially regarded as ḥchouma¹². Reserve can also be meant: a Peace Corps textbook advises not to expect people who receive a present to thank you effusively; admitting that you like a present would be considered hachouma¹³.

Ḥchouma takes effect through the gaze of others and through what is said about someone¹⁴. The word field includes other Darija words such as tabhdila (humiliation), fḍiḥa (scandal) and ʿār (disgrace), and today the term is also widespread on social networks and news sites¹⁵. Harrell’s dictionary lists ʿar, “shame, dishonour”, and ʿib, “shameful act”, with the exclamations ʿar ʿlik! and ʿib ʿlik!, both “shame on you!”¹⁶.