na3ch نعش
Tunisian Derja · noun
“na3ch” (نعش) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning coffin, funeral bier.
Meanings
- coffin, funeral bier
Usage
Na3ch refers to the bier or coffin on which the deceased is carried to the cemetery. In Tunisia, the dead are traditionally transported on a wooden stretcher, carried on men's shoulders. The word appears in figurative expressions borrowed from standard Arabic, such as mosmar fi na3ch ("a nail in the coffin"), common in political discourse and on social media. The subject is grave: this word is not joked about. The associated verb is hez ("to carry"), for example hezzou en-na3ch ("they carried the coffin").
Example
هزّو النعش على كتافهم للجبّانة
hezzou ennaa3ch 3la ktèfhom lel jebbèna
“They carried the coffin on their shoulders to the cemetery.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “na3ch” but also “naa3ch” and “na3sh”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.