arba3mya اربعمياة
Tunisian Derja · numeral
“arba3mya” (اربعمياة) is a numeral in Tunisian Derja meaning four hundred.
Meanings
- four hundred
Usage
Arba3mya is the Tunisian form of "four hundred". It is formed from arba3, "four", and mya, "hundred", pronounced as a single word. It is followed directly by the noun: arba3mya dinar, "four hundred dinars". Units and tens are added with w: arba3mya w khamsin, "four hundred and fifty". The other hundreds follow the same pattern: tla9mya, khoms mya, sett mya. Note: for prices, many Tunisians also count in millimes, and "arba3mya" on its own can then mean four hundred millimes, depending on the context.
Example
الكراء بأربعمياة دينار في الشهر.
el kra b'arba3mya dinar fi chhar.
“The rent is four hundred dinars a month.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “arba3mya” but also “arb3mya”, “arba3mia” and “arba3miya”. 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.