na9es ناقص

Tunisian Derja · adjective

“na9es” (ناقص) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning lacking, insufficient.

Meanings

1. lacking, insufficient
2. minus (arithmetic)
3. incomplete, short

Usage

Na9es (feminine na9sa, plural na9sin) is often constructed with a noun: "na9es mel7", "lacking salt", or "na9es ma3rfa", "lacking knowledge". In arithmetic, it means "minus": "3achra na9es zouz". For the time, "el wo7da na9es rbo3" means "a quarter to one". The ironic expression "ma7nech na9sin…" is equivalent to "all we needed was…". Applied to a person on their own, na9es can be offensive, as it implies a lack of judgment.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “na9es” but also “ne9es”, “na9ess”, “naqes” and “nakes”. 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 “na9es” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “missing, incomplete”; “low, insufficient”: na9s in Moroccan.

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “insufficient, in smaller quantity”; “missing, absent”: na9es in Algerian.