sbe9 سباق
Tunisian Derja · noun
“sbe9” (سباق) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning race, speed contest.
Meanings
- race, speed contest
- event, competition
Usage
Sbe9 refers to a race: a foot race, cycling race, horse or car race, a marathon. It is used with verbs such as a3mel sbe9 (to hold a race) or chaarek fi sbe9 (to take part in a race). The duration or distance is often specified: sbe9 b nos nhar (a half-day race). The common plural is sab9at. The word is general-purpose, with no register marking. Do not confuse it with the verb sbe9 (to get ahead of, to arrive before), which is spelled the same in arabizi but is distinguished by context.
Example
غدوة عندي سباق في المرسى.
ghodwa 3andi sbe9 fel marsa.
“Tomorrow I have a race in La Marsa.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sbe9” but also “sba9”, “sebe9”, “sbeq” and “sbek”. 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 “sbe9” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “race, speed competition”; “competition, contest”: sibaq in Moroccan.