tir طير
Moroccan Darija · noun
“tir” (طير) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning bird.
Meanings
- bird
- flying (by plane)
Usage
Tir is the generic term for "bird". The plural is tyour, and the diminutive twiyer, "little bird", is also used as a term of endearment. With the article, it is t-tir. The same word can mean the act of flying, in the sense of taking a plane: khayf mn t-tir, "to be afraid of flying". It is related to the verb tar / ytir (to fly, to fly off) and to tyyara (plane). For species, specific names are used, such as bertal (sparrow), rather than tir followed by a complement.
Example
شفت واحد الطير كبير فوق الشجرة
chft wa7d tir kbir fou9 chjra
“I saw a big bird on the tree.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tir” but also “ttir”, “tayr”, “tiyr” and “tyr”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “tir” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “bird”; “bird of prey, hunting bird”: tir in Tunisian.