rb3in ربعين
Moroccan Darija · numeral
“rb3in” (ربعين) is a numeral in Moroccan Darija meaning forty.
Meanings
- forty
Usage
rb3in means forty. The counted noun that follows stays singular: "rb3in dqiqa", "rb3in 3am". In compound numbers, the unit comes before the tens: "khamsa w rb3in" (forty-five). Preceded by chi, it gives an approximation: "chi rb3in" (about forty). The word also appears in the rb3in yum period following a birth or a death. In speech, a beginner may confuse it with rb3Tach (fourteen); it is the ending -in that marks the tens.
Example
خسّنا نتلعو نديو شي ربعين إترو ديال زيت
5assna ntel3ou ndiw chi reb3in itro dial zit
“We need to go up and bring about forty liters of oil.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rb3in” but also “reb3in”, “rab3in”, “rba3in” and “rbe3in”. 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.