9sir قصير
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“9sir” (قصير) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning short (length, duration).
Meanings
- short (length, duration)
- short in height (person)
Usage
9sir is used for a length or a duration: film 9sir (short film), 7keya 9sira (a short story), sirwel 9sir (shorts). For a person, it means "short in height". The opposite is twil. The feminine is 9sira and the plural is 9sar. To say "too short", you say 9sir barcha. The letter ق is usually pronounced q in cities, hence the spellings with 9. In some regions it is pronounced g, and then written gsir. The comparative is a9sar (shorter).
Example
الفيلم قصير، ساعة برك.
el film 9sir, se3a bark.
“The film is short, only one hour.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “9sir” but also “qsir”, “ksir”, “gsir” and “9ssir”. 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 “9sir” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “short (length, duration)”; “short, small in stature”: 9sir in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “short (length, duration)”; “short in height”: gsir in Algerian.