9essa قصة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“9essa” (قصة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning story, tale, account.
Meanings
- story, tale, account
- matter, situation
Usage
9essa means a story that is told, an account, a children's tale. In this sense, derja also uses 7kéya a lot, which is more colloquial. 9essa is also used, like "story" in English, to talk about a matter or a situation: "chnowa el 9essa ?" (what's going on?), "9essa twila" (it's a long story). The plural is 9issas. The "9" stands for the qaf, pronounced "q" in most regions. The spellings 9essa and 9assa reflect variation in the vowel.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9essa” but also “9assa”, “qessa”, “9ssa” and “kessa”. 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.
Type “9essa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “story, tale”; “matter, situation”: 9issa in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “story, tale”; “matter, situation, what's going on”: 9issa in Algerian.