9assa قاسى
Tunisian Derja · verb
“9assa” (قاسى) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to suffer, to endure hardship.
Meanings
- to suffer, to endure hardship
- to put up with something painful for long
Usage
Qassa is used to talk about someone who has been through a hard life: poverty, illness, exile, raising children in hardship. It is often heard with barcha: "qassa barcha" (he suffered a lot). The typical construction is qassa fi (to suffer in, during): "qassa fi 7yatou", "qassa fi ghorba". The tone is grave, sometimes admiring of the person who held on. Not to be confused with the adjective 9asi (hard, cruel), from the same root but different in meaning and form. In online writing, the same Arabic spelling can correspond to both.
Example
أمّي قاسات برشة باش ربّاتنا
ommi 9assat barcha bech rabbatna
“My mother suffered a lot to raise us.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9assa” but also “qassa”, “kassa” and “9asa”. 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.