9ima قيمة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“9ima” (قيمة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning value.
Meanings
- value
- importance, esteem
- amount
Usage
The word 9ima means "value", in the material sense (price, amount) as well as the moral sense. Before a complement, it becomes 9imet: 9imet el-flous ("the value of money"). The expression 3andou 9ima ("it has value") means that a thing or a person matters and is respected. Conversely, ma3andouch 9ima is derogatory: "it is worth nothing" or "he is not respected". The word is used in all registers, from conversation to the vocabulary of economics.
Example
الخاتم هذا عندو قيمة كبيرة عندي، متاع أمي
el khatem hedha 3andou 9ima kbira 3andi, mta3 ommi
“This ring has great value to me, it was my mother's.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9ima” but also “9ema”, “9imet”, “qima” and “9eema”. 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 “9ima” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “value, price”; “esteem, respect”: 9ima in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “value, importance”; “price, amount”: 9ima in Algerian.