arb3a اربعة
Tunisian Derja · numeral
“arb3a” (اربعة) is a numeral in Tunisian Derja meaning four.
Meanings
- four
Usage
Arb3a is the number four. It is used alone or before a noun: « arb3a sghar » (four children). Before certain nouns such as days, months, years or people, the shortened form « arba3 » is heard: « arba3 tiyem » (four days). For the numbers eleven to nineteen, one says « arba3tach » (fourteen). « Mcha 3la arb3a » means to walk on all fours. In online writing, the digit 3 stands for the ‘ayn sound, and the number itself is often simply written 4.
Example
عندي أربعة صغار، زوز أولاد و زوز بنات
3andi arb3a sghar, zouz wled w zouz bnet
“I have four kids, two boys and two girls.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “arb3a” but also “arba3a”, “erb3a”, “arbaa” and “arb3”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “arb3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
The same word also exists in Moroccan Darija, written ربعة, where it means “four”: rb3a in Moroccan.