tsa7ar تسحر
Tunisian Derja · verb
“tsa7ar” (تسحر) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to eat the pre-dawn meal.
Meanings
- to eat the pre-dawn meal
Usage
Tsa77ar means to have the s7our, the meal eaten during Ramadan before dawn and the start of the fast. There is no single English verb; it is often translated as "to have the shour" or "to eat before dawn". In the present, one says yetsa77ar or netsa77ar. What one eats is often specified with the preposition b: tsa77ar b mesfouf (sweet couscous), b lben, b 7lib. The word is common throughout the month of Ramadan, in family conversations as well as in advertisements.
Example
البارح تسحرت بمسفوف ورقدت
lbare7 tsa77art b mesfouf w r9att
“Yesterday I had mesfouf for shour, then went to sleep.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tsa7ar” but also “tsa77ar”, “tsahhar”, “tsahar” and “tetsa7ar”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.