r5is رخيس
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“r5is” (رخيس) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning cheap, inexpensive.
Meanings
- cheap, inexpensive
- cheap, contemptible
Usage
R5is is the everyday adjective for a cheap product or service. Its opposite is ghali, "expensive". The feminine is r5isa. It is used a lot at the market: el 5odra r5isa lyoum, "the vegetables are cheap today". Applied to a person or behaviour, it becomes pejorative and means "contemptible", "vile" or "without dignity", much like "cheap" in informal English. This moral sense is scornful, but it is not a crude insult.
Example
الحوت اليوم رخيس
el 7out lyoum r5is
“The fish is cheap today.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “r5is” but also “rkhis”, “ra5is”, “r5iss” and “rkhiss”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.