9ra قرا
Tunisian Derja · verb
“9ra” (قرا) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to read.
Meanings
- to read
- to study, attend school
- to learn (a lesson)
Usage
9ra, present ye9ra, means to read: 9ra ejjarida (he read the newspaper). In Tunisia it also very often means to study or to be in school: ye9ra fil lycée (he is at high school), 9ra fi fransa (he studied in France). With 3la, it means to have had someone as a teacher: 9ra 3la sidi flen. The causative verb 9arra means to teach, to give classes. In the imperative, one says a9ra for the singular and a9raw for the plural. The verb is also used for reciting the Quran.
Example
اقراوا يا شعب هاذا شنوة كاتب حسب الله و نعمة الوكيل
A9raw ya cha3b hedha chnowa kateb 7asbi allah wa ne3ma alwakil
“Read, people, what this man wrote! God is enough for me, and what an excellent guardian.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9ra” but also “qra”, “kra”, “9raa”, “9ara” and “qara”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find قرا and قرى, all the same word.
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 “9ra” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “study, go to school”; “read”: 9ra in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to study, go to school”; “to read”: qra in Algerian.