char9i شرقي

Tunisian Derja · adjective

“char9i” (شرقي) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning eastern, of the east (geography).

Meanings

1. eastern, of the east (geography)
2. oriental, Middle Eastern (music, style)
3. east wind (rih charqi)

Usage

Charqi describes what lies in the east: it often appears in names of regions or districts, such as chmel charqi (north-east) or wost charqi (centre-east). It agrees in the feminine as charqiya and in the plural as charqiyin. It is also used for a style from the Mashreq, especially in music: ghna charqi, an Egyptian-style oriental song, as opposed to the Tunisian repertoire. Note that in Tunisia, "oriental" in the everyday sense refers to the Arab Middle East, not to Asia. Its opposite is gharbi (western, of the west).

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “char9i” but also “cherki”, “chargui”, “sharqi” and “cher9i”. 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 “char9i” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “oriental, eastern”; “chergui, hot east wind”: cher9i in Moroccan.