9ras قرص

Tunisian Derja · verb

“9ras” (قرص) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to pinch.

Meanings

1. to pinch
2. to sting, to bite (insect)
3. pill, disc (noun)

Usage

As a verb, 9ras means to pinch with the fingers. One says "9rasni", "he pinched me". It is also used for an insect's sting: "9arsetni na7la", "a bee stung me". In the present tense, one says yo9ros. The same written word, read 9ors, is a noun designating a disc or a round flatbread, sometimes a pill. For medication, however, derja prefers 7abba or kachet. Only context distinguishes the verb from the noun. The register is neutral.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9ras” but also “gras”, “9ros”, “qras” and “9arss”. 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 “9ras” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to pinch (with the fingers)”: 9res in Moroccan.