9ber قبر
Moroccan Darija · noun
“9ber” (قبر) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning grave, tomb.
Meanings
- grave, tomb
Usage
Qber means "grave". The plural is qbour, which also means the cemetery: mcha l-qbour, "he went to the cemetery". It is used in the context of funerals and visits to the dead, especially on Fridays and holidays. It also appears in proverbs and expressions such as rjel f lqber, "to have one foot in the grave". The register is neutral. The more formal word for "cemetery" is mqbara, but qbour remains the most common in speech.
Example
لي حبني مابنالي قصر و لي كرهني ماحفر لي قبر
li 7ebni mabnali 9ser ou li krehni ma7fer li 9ber
“Whoever loves me hasn't built me a palace, and whoever hates me hasn't dug me a grave.”
Forms
| plural | 9bora |
|---|
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9ber” but also “9br”, “qber” and “9bar”. 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 “9ber” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “grave, burial place”: kbar in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “grave, burial place”; “tomb of a saint”: 9bar in Tunisian.