tes3a تسعة
Tunisian Derja · numeral
“tes3a” (تسعة) is a numeral in Tunisian Derja meaning nine (digit, number).
Meanings
- nine (digit, number)
- nine o'clock
Usage
Tes3a is the number nine. It is used for counting, telling the time ("et-tes3a": nine o'clock), a date or a price. Before a counted noun, the short form tsa3 or tes3a followed by the plural is often used: "tsa3 snin" (nine years). For the tens, the unit comes first, linked by w: "tes3a w tes3in" (ninety-nine). The derived tes3in means ninety. For the time, one says "et-tes3a w rbo3" (a quarter past nine). In arabizi, the digit 3 stands for the sound ‘ayn.
Example
نوض كل نهار مع التسعة
nnoudh kol nhar m3a tes3a
“I get up every day around nine.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tes3a” but also “tis3a”, “tes3”, “tsa3” and “tas3a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find تسعة and تسعا, all the same word.
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.
Type “tes3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “nine (number)”: ts3a in Moroccan.