fa9r فقر
Algerian Darja · noun
“fa9r” (فقر) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning poverty, destitution.
Meanings
- poverty, destitution
- lack, poor quality (figurative)
Usage
Lfa9r refers to material poverty. It is heard in religious formulas and invocations, and in conversations about daily life: 3aychin fel fa9r ("they live in poverty"). In a casual register, it is also used figuratively for a lack of quality or ideas: fa9r f l'idées. The corresponding adjective is fa9ir (poor), and mezaloot or meskin are also used in a more emotional register. The 9 in arabizi stands for qaf, often pronounced like a g in part of the country.
Example
بزاف ديال الناس راهم عايشين في الفقر.
bezzaf n nas rahom 3aychin fel fa9r.
“Many people live in poverty.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “fa9r” but also “fakr”, “fagr” and “faqr”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “fa9r” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “poverty, destitution”; “deficiency (in "fa9r dem")”: fa9r in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “poverty, destitution”; “want, deprivation”: fa9r in Tunisian.