gsir قصير
Algerian Darja · adjective
“gsir” (قصير) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning short (length, duration).
Meanings
- short (length, duration)
- short in height
Usage
A very common adjective. Its pronunciation varies by region: gsir in much of the country, qsir or 9sir elsewhere. The feminine is gsira and the plural is gsar. It applies to an object, such as trousers or hair, to a duration (wqt gsir, "a short time"), and to a person of small stature. Its opposite is twil. For a person, the word can sound a bit mocking depending on the tone. To say "small" in the general sense, people rather use sghir: gsir concerns only length or height.
Example
هاد السروال قصير عليك
had sserwal gsir 3lik
“These trousers are too short for you.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “gsir” but also “9sir”, “qsir”, “ksir” and “gssir”. 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 “gsir” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “short (length, duration)”; “short, small in stature”: 9sir in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “short (length, duration)”; “short in height (person)”: 9sir in Tunisian.