na9s ناقص

Moroccan Darija · adjective

“na9s” (ناقص) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning missing, incomplete.

Meanings

1. missing, incomplete
2. low, insufficient
3. minus (time, math)

Usage

Na9es indicates that something is lacking: an insufficient quantity, an incomplete object, a sum that is too low. The feminine is na9sa. It is often heard with a complement: "na9es lmel7a", "there's no salt / salt is missing". It is also used to tell the time: "jouj na9es rbe3", "a quarter to two". In arithmetic, it corresponds to "minus". Applied to a person, it can be pejorative: "na9es", "flawed, not up to standard". It should therefore be used with caution. The expression "na9es men", "lacking...", is very frequent.

Example

Forms

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 “na9s” but also “na9es”, “na9is”, “naqis” and “naa9s”. 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 “na9s” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “insufficient, in smaller quantity”; “missing, absent”: na9es in Algerian.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “lacking, insufficient”; “minus (arithmetic)”: na9es in Tunisian.