tsa3tach تسعتاش
Moroccan Darija · numeral
“tsa3tach” (تسعتاش) is a numeral in Moroccan Darija meaning nineteen.
Meanings
- nineteen
Usage
This spelling with t is a written variant of tsa3Tach, "nineteen". In speech, the final t is often emphatic, hence the more frequent spelling with ط. Like the other numbers from eleven to nineteen, it is linked to the noun by a particle -l-: tsa3tach l3am, "nineteen years", tsa3tach lyoum, "nineteen days". The noun then stays singular, which often surprises English speakers. Do not confuse it with ts3a, "nine", or with tes3in, "ninety".
Example
عندو تسعتاش العام
3ndo tsa3tach l3am
“He is nineteen years old.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tsa3tach” but also “ts3tach” and “tse3tach”. 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.