tnin w 3ichrin تنين وعشرين
Moroccan Darija · numeral
“tnin w 3ichrin” (تنين وعشرين) is a numeral in Moroccan Darija meaning twenty-two.
Meanings
- twenty-two
Usage
Tnin u 3ichrin follows the usual order of compound numbers in darija: the unit, then "u" (and), then the ten. An English speaker should think "two and twenty". The noun that follows stays singular: tnin u 3ichrin dqiqa, tnin u 3ichrin kilo. You also hear tnayn u 3ichrin. For the time, other phrasings are used instead (for example l-3achra w qsem). In prices, you need to specify derham or ryal, because the same sum is not expressed the same way depending on the unit chosen.
Example
خلّصت تنين وعشرين درهم
khellest tnin u 3ichrin derham
“I paid twenty-two dirhams.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tnin w 3ichrin” but also “tnin o 3ichrin”, “tnin u 3ichrin” and “tnayn w 3ichrin”. 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.