bekri بكري
Moroccan Darija · adverb
“bekri” (بكري) is an adverb in Moroccan Darija meaning early, in good time.
Meanings
- early, in good time
- formerly, in the past
Usage
Bekri first means "early": "fi9 bekri" (get up early), "mazal bekri" (it's still early). It also has a very common older time sense, "in the old days": "bekri kanu n-nas..." (in the old days people...), and the expression "dyal bekri" (of old, old-fashioned). Context tells the two senses apart. The opposite of "early" is m3ettel (late) or "m3a l-3chiya", depending on the time. It is also used for "for a long time": "ana 3reftu men bekri".
Example
غدا فيق بكري
ghda fi9 bkri
“Get up early tomorrow.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bekri” but also “bkri” and “bakri”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “bekri” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “in the past, before, long ago”; “men bekri: for a long time”: bekri in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “early, in good time”; “formerly, in the old days”: bekri in Tunisian.