tetir تطير
Tunisian Derja · verb
“tetir” (تطير) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning she flies, you fly (in the air).
Meanings
- she flies, you fly (in the air)
- to dash off, vanish quickly
Usage
Imperfect form of the verb tar, ytir (to fly, to take off), in the third person feminine or the second person: ttir. The primary meaning concerns birds and planes. Figuratively, it expresses speed: money that ttir is money that goes quickly. It can also describe someone who rushes off, or an object carried away by the wind. The register is common. Do not confuse it with the noun tatayyur (superstition, bad omen), which is written the same in Arabic but belongs to a religious or formal register.
Example
شوف الطيارة كيفاش تطير
chouf ettayyara kifech ttir
“Look at the plane, see how it flies.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tetir” but also “t6ir”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 6 is emphatic ta (ط).