ji3an جيعان
Algerian Darja · adjective
“ji3an” (جيعان) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning hungry.
Meanings
- hungry
- starving, greedy (figurative)
Usage
Ji3an is the common adjective for being hungry. It agrees in the feminine (ji3ana) and the plural (ji3anin). The most frequent phrase is rani ji3an, "I'm hungry", literally "I am starving". Darja uses an adjective where some languages use "have hunger", so don't translate word for word. The word is heavily used during Ramadan, before the breaking of the fast. Figuratively, it can describe someone greedy or gluttonous, with a mocking nuance. It is used in all registers.
Example
راني جيعان بزاف، واش طيبتي اليوم؟
rani ji3an bezzaf, wach tiyabti lyoum?
“I'm very hungry, what did you cook today?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ji3an” but also “ji3ane”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “ji3an” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “hungry, starving”; “greedy, insatiable (figurative)”: ji3an in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “hungry”; “greedy, insatiable (figurative)”: ji3an in Tunisian.