rb3mya ربعمية
Moroccan Darija · numeral
“rb3mya” (ربعمية) is a numeral in Moroccan Darija meaning four hundred.
Meanings
- four hundred
Usage
rb3miya means four hundred. It is formed from rb3a (four) and miya (hundred), fused into a single word. The counted noun that follows is singular: "rb3miya derham" (four hundred dirhams). For compound numbers, the remainder is added with w: "rb3miya w 3chrin" (four hundred and twenty). It is very common for prices. Note: in the traditional way of counting money in ryals, rb3miya can refer to a sum different from four hundred dirhams; rely on the context.
Example
شريتو بربعمية درهم
chritou b rb3miya derham
“I bought it for four hundred dirhams.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rb3mya” but also “rb3miya”, “reb3miya”, “rab3miya” and “rba3mya”. 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.