garn قرن

Tunisian Derja · noun

“garn” (قرن) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning horn (of an animal).

Meanings

1. horn (of an animal)
2. century
3. ages, a very long time (hyperbole)

Usage

The word has two readings. Pronounced garn, it means the horn of an animal (garn el 3allouch, "the sheep's horn"); the plural is grouna. Pronounced qarn, closer to the standard, it means "century": el qarn el 3ichrin ("the twentieth century"). In conversation, it is also used by exaggeration for an interminable wait: 9a3adt qarn nestannek ("I waited for you for ages"). Context and pronunciation tell the horn and the century apart.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “garn” but also “qarn”, “9arn” and “karn”. 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 “garn” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “century”; “horn”: 9arn in Moroccan.

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “century”; “horn (of an animal)”: qarn in Algerian.