n3as نعاس
Moroccan Darija · noun
“n3as” (نعاس) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning sleep.
Meanings
- sleep
- sleepiness
Usage
N3as is the noun for sleep. It is often used with fi- to express the wish to sleep: fiya n3as, "I'm sleepy", literally "in me there is sleep". Mafik n3as means "you're not sleepy". Other expressions are common: tar liya n3as or tar menni n3as, "sleep has left me", meaning one can no longer manage to sleep. One also says hwayj n3as for night clothes and bit n3as for the bedroom. Be careful not to confuse it with the verb n3es, "to sleep". In arabizi, the digit 3 stands for the 'ayn.
Example
ياك مافيك نعاس
yak mafik n3as
“You're not sleepy, are you?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “n3as” but also “n3ass”, “naas” and “ne3as”. 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.