tse3miya تسعمية
Moroccan Darija · numeral
“tse3miya” (تسعمية) is a numeral in Moroccan Darija meaning nine hundred.
Meanings
- nine hundred
Usage
Tse3miya means "nine hundred". The noun that follows is singular, with no linking particle: tse3miya derham, "nine hundred dirhams". There is a pitfall: in prices, many Moroccans count in ryal, a unit worth one twentieth of a dirham. So tse3miya ryal is not nine hundred dirhams. If the unit is not specified, you need to ask. For nine thousand, say ts3ud alaf.
Example
شريتها بتسعمية درهم
chritha b tse3miya derham
“I bought it for nine hundred dirhams.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tse3miya” but also “ts3miya”, “tsa3miya”, “tes3miya” and “ts3mya”. 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.