3mi9 عميق
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“3mi9” (عميق) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning deep.
Meanings
- deep
- profound, intense (sleep, feeling)
Usage
3mi9 first describes physical depth: a well, the sea, a hole or a wound. By extension, it applies to heavy sleep (noum 3mi9), to a thought or to an intense feeling. In spoken language, the first vowel often drops, hence the pronunciation 3mi9. The form 3ami9 corresponds rather to a formal pronunciation. The opposite is mech 3mi9, "shallow". For a person, one rather says they have profound ideas than calls them 3mi9.
Example
البحر هوني عميق، رد بالك
el b7ar houni 3mi9, redd belek
“The sea is deep here, be careful.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3mi9” but also “3ami9”, “amik” and “3mik”. 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; 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “3mi9” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “deep, in-depth”; “(person) who thinks deeply”: 3ami9 in Moroccan.