9adeh قداه
Tunisian Derja · adverb
“9adeh” (قداه) is an adverb in Tunisian Derja meaning how much, how many.
Meanings
- how much, how many
- how, to what extent
Usage
Very common question word for quantity: 9addeh soumha ? (how much does it cost?), 9addeh men wa7ed ? (how many are there?). It is also used in indirect questions: za3ma 9addeh... (I wonder how much...). It appears in exclamations too: 9addeh mezyen ! (how beautiful!). The variant 9addech is also heard. The 9 stands for the "q" sound, often pronounced as a hard "g" in some regions.
Example
زعمة قدّاه عطوها فلوس
za3ma 9adeh 3touha flous
“I wonder how much money they gave him.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9adeh” but also “9addeh”, “qaddeh”, “kaddeh” and “9adah”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.