9erd قرد
Moroccan Darija · noun
“9erd” (قرد) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning monkey.
Meanings
- monkey
- ugly or grimacing person (teasing)
Usage
9erd is the general word for "monkey." It is used to talk about the animal, at the zoo, in cartoons, or in children's stories. In Morocco you also often hear chaddi, especially for the Barbary macaque, as in the forests of Ifrane. Applied to a person, 9erd becomes mocking: it is used for someone who makes faces or whom one finds ugly. It should then be used with caution, as it can offend. It is used with the article: l9erd. Pronunciation varies between 9erd and 9ard depending on the speaker.
Example
شفنا القرد فالجردة
chefna l9erd f ljerda
“We saw the monkey in the garden.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9erd” but also “9rd”, “9ard”, “qard” and “qerd”. 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 “9erd” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “monkey”; “ugly or restless person (pejorative)”: 9erd in Tunisian.