7nin حنين
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“7nin” (حنين) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning tender, affectionate, gentle.
Meanings
- tender, affectionate, gentle
- nostalgia (formal register)
Usage
In spoken Tunisian, 7nin is mainly an adjective. It describes a person who is tender, caring and soft-hearted. The feminine 7nina is used a lot for a mother or grandmother: ommi 7nina barcha. You can also say 7nin 3lih, "tender toward him". The sense of "nostalgia", read 7anin, belongs to Standard Arabic and to poetic writing, as in songs. In everyday speech, people say twa77acht instead, "I missed you". The plural is 7nin or 7nayen depending on the region.
Example
أمي حنينة برشا
ommi 7nina barcha
“My mother is very tender.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7nin” but also “hnin”, “7nina”, “7anin” and “7nine”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “7nin” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “tender, affectionate”; “gentle, kind”: hnin in Algerian.