ghiyab غياب
Tunisian Derja · noun
“ghiyab” (غياب) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning absence (of a person).
Meanings
- absence (of a person)
- lack, lack of something
Usage
Ghiyab (often pronounced ghiyeb) refers to a person's absence, especially at school or at work: 3andou ghiyab barcha (he has a lot of absences). The word belongs to a rather formal register, close to standard Arabic, and appears mainly in the media, news commentary and administrative vocabulary. It is also used to express the lack of something abstract: ghiyab edhamir (the absence of professional conscience), ghiyab el amn (the lack of security). In casual conversation, to say that a person is not there, one would rather say mouch mawjoud or ma jech.
Example
الأستاذ حسبلي الغياب على خاطر جيت متأخر
el oustedh 7asebli el ghiyab 3la khater jit mt2akher
“The teacher marked me absent because I arrived late.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ghiyab” but also “ghyab”, “ghiyeb”, “8iyab” and “ghieb”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.
Type “ghiyab” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “absence (school, work)”; “being away, distance”: ghiyab in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “absence”; “lack (of something)”: ghyab in Algerian.