do9 دق
Tunisian Derja · verb
“do9” (دق) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to knock (at the door).
Meanings
- to knock (at the door)
- to pound, crush in a mortar
- to ring, beat (heart, clock)
Usage
Da99 (imperative do99) mainly means "to knock": da99 el beb ("he knocked at the door"), do99 9bal ma todkhol ("knock before you come in"). In cooking, it means "to pound": da99 ethoum ("to pound garlic"), hence the mehrès for the mortar. It is also used for a beating heart (9albi yda99) or a clock striking. Conjugation: da99it, yda99. For "to hit someone", dhreb is preferred. The Latin spelling wavers between 9, k and g for the final consonant.
Example
دق الباب قبل ما تدخل
do9 el beb 9bal ma todkhol
“Knock on the door before you come in.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “do9” but also “da9”, “de99”, “dagg” and “dak”. 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 “do9” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to knock (on a door), to bang”; “to pound, crush, drive in”: de9 in Moroccan.