milyar مليار
Tunisian Derja · numeral
“milyar” (مليار) is a numeral in Tunisian Derja meaning billion.
Meanings
- billion
- billion millimes (sum of money)
Usage
Milyar means "billion". Note that in everyday Tunisian usage, sums of money are often counted in millimes. A milyar then means a billion millimes, i.e. one million dinars, and not a billion dinars. Likewise, melyoun refers to one thousand dinars. The media and formal speech tend to count in dinars, hence frequent misunderstandings. The word is also used emphatically to express an enormous quantity. The plural is mlayer.
Example
شرى دار بمليار
chra dar b milyar
“He bought a house for a milyar (a billion millimes, i.e. one million dinars).”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “milyar” but also “melyar”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “milyar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “billion”; “billion centimes (ten million dirhams)”: mlyar in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “billion”; “ten million dinars (counted in centimes)”: melyar in Algerian.