Tunisian Arabic morphology

The grammar, the conjugation and the morphology of Tunisian Arabic is very similar to that of other Maghrebi Arabic varieties. It is based on Classical Arabic and influenced by Berber languages and Latin, with some morphological inventions. The Berber influence is more noticeable in Pre-Hilalian dialects.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Tunisian Arabic has 7 personal pronouns since gender differentiation of the 2nd person in the singular form is absent.

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	ānī آني	aḥnā أحنا
2nd	intī إنتِي	intūmā انتوما
3rd	hūwa هوة	hūma هومة
3rd	hīya هية	hūma هومة

Example : آنا زادة « Ānī zāda. » — "Me too."

Possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns are used as possessive articles when put as a suffix to a preposition or a noun. When it is used after a verb, their functions are rather direct object pronouns. The ones between parenthesis are the ones used after a structure finishing by a vowel.

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	-ī ي-	-nā نا-
2nd	-ik ك-	-kum كم-
3rd	-ū ه-	-hum هم-
3rd	-hā ها-	-hum هم-

Note, that with feminine words which are generally finished with an ة a, a ت t is added before the suffixes which become tī, tik, tū, thā, tnā, tkum and thum

Indirect object pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns are used as a suffix after the verb and before the ش- -š of the negation. When there is a combination of direct and indirect object pronouns, indirect object pronouns are always written in the end. Furthermore, the first short i for the indirect Object pronoun is always dropped when it is written after a vowel.

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	-lī لي-	-ilnā لنا-
2nd	-lik لك-	-ilkum لكم-
3rd	-lū له-	-ilhum لهم-
3rd	-ilhā لها-	-ilhum لهم-

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are used as a subject to explain general ideas or to report the facts which were done by an unknown person:

واحد wāḥid, واحدة waḥda, وحود wḥūd “Someone”
الواحد il-wāḥid “The individual”
أيّ eyy “Any”
كل واحد kull wāḥid “Everyone”
حاجة ḥāja “Something”
حتّى ḥattā “Any”
حتّى واحد ḥattā wāḥid “Anyone”
آخر āxir, أخرة uxra, أخرين uxrīn “Other”
الكل il-kull “All”

Interrogative pronouns

The next interrogative pronouns are used when asking a question in Tunisian Arabic.

Tunisian Arabic	English	Notes
شنوة šnūwa, شنية šnīya, شنومة šnūma	What	šnīya is used with feminine words. šnūma is used with plural words.
آش āš or ش- š-	What	Used with verbs and some nouns.
شكون škūn	Who
آما āmā	Which
وقتاش waqtāš	When
علاش ɛlāš	Why
لواش lwāš	What for
وين wīn or فين fīn	Where
منين mnīn	Where... from
لوين lwīn	Where... to
كيفاش kīfāš	How
قدّاش qaddāš	How many
بقدّاش bqaddāš	How much
فاش fāš	What... in
مناش mnāš	What... of
آناهو ānāhū, آناهي ānāhī, آناهم ānāhum	Which one

Articles

Definite articles

Translated in English as "The" Article, "il-" is used as an added prefix to denote nouns as definite. If the defined nouns begins with a Sun Consonant, "il-" would be pronounced as i + the Sun Consonant with which the noun begins. For example:

الجريدة il-jarīda meaning the Newspaper
الكرسي il-kursī meaning the chair

Demonstrative articles

Like in Standard Arabic, Demonstrative Articles can be used as demonstrative pronouns when they are put alone as subjects. When they are articles, they can be written before or after the considered noun which should be definite by "il-".

Demonstrative Articles	Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation
This	هاذا or هاذاية, هاذي or هاذية	hāđa or hāđāya, hāđī or hāđīya
This	هاكا or هاكاية, هاكي or هاكية	hāka or hākāya, hākī or hākīya
That	هاذاكة, هاذيكة	hāđāka, hāđīka
These	هاذومة	hāđūma
Those	هاذوكم	hāđūkum

For example: "This book" could be written in Tunisian as هٰاذا الكتاب hāđā il-ktāb or even as الكتاب هٰاذا il-ktāb hāđā.
When the demonstrative article is before the noun, it can be substituted by an abbreviated form which is ها hā for this and these, هاذْ hāđ for this and هٰاكْ hāk for that and those.
For example, "This book" could be written in Tunisian as ها الكتاب hā il-ktāb.

Possessive articles

Although they do exist, possessive articles in Tunisian Arabic are not used the same way as in English. They mainly show possession valorization in a sentence. Furthermore, they are only used after a definite noun.
For example: الكورة متاعك "il-kūra mtāɛik"- "Your ball"
Indeed, as in Arabic and other languages, possessive pronouns replaces them when there is not a valorization and a stress of the fact of possessing the item. These suffixes are the same as the ones used for conjugation of some verbs, and represent the ending sound of the possessive articles.
For example: كورتك "kūrtik"- "Your ball"

Modal verbs

Unlike English, where modal verbs are followed by the bare infinitive, Tunisian Arabic requires the **imperfect form** of the verb.
In some cases, the second verb may instead appear in the **perfect form**, particularly with **راه rāh**, **حقّه ḥaqqū**, and **ماذابيه māḏābīh**, which do not have an independent past tense. In these contexts, the particle **لوكان lūkān** is generally used before the verb.
The verb **قاعد qāʕid** can precede an active participle to indicate **progressive aspect**.
All modal verbs can be negated, similar to English modals, with the exception of **راه rāh** and **ماذابيه māḏābīh**. For example:
- *ماذابينا نمشيوا* → negative: *ماذابينا ما نمشيوش*.
- *راه تكلّم* → negative: *راه ما تكلّمش*.

Hāhū (existential copula, pointing to presence)

Some scholars analyze **hāhū** as a **deictic particle** built from the demonstrative *hā-* plus a pronominal suffix. Others have proposed Punic/Hebrew influence.

Person	Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation
I am	هاني	hānī
You are	هاك	hāk
He is	هاو	hāw
She is	هاهي	hāhī
We are	هانا	hānā
You are	هاكم	hākum
They are	هاهم	hāhum

Example: *هاني هوني*.

Rāhū (copula, emphasizing immediacy)

*Rāhū** emphasizes immediacy or certainty, often glossed as “look, indeed.” It is built on *rā* plus a pronoun suffix.

Person	Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation
I am	راني	rānī
You are	راك	rāk
He is	راهو	rāhū
She is	راها	rāhā
We are	رانا	rānā
You are	راكم	rākuṃ
They are	راهم	rāhum

Example: *راني هوني*.

Māhū (evidential / tag marker)

*Māhū** functions as an evidential particle or tag-question marker. It combines the negator *ma-* with the pronominal copula.

Person	Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation
Am I not	ماني	mānī
Are you not	ماك	māk
Is he not	ماهو	māhū
Is she not	ماها	māhā
Are we not	مانا	mānā
Are you not	ماكم	mākum
Are they not	ماهم	māhum

Examples:
- *ماني هوني*.
- *ماشيين، ماهو؟*.

Qāʕid (progressive aspect)

*Qāʕid** + participle expresses ongoing action.

Person	Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation
I am	قاعد	qāʕid
You are	قاعد	qāʕid
He is	قاعد	qāʕid
She is	قاعدة	qāʕda
We are	قاعدين	qāʕdīn
You are	قاعدين	qāʕdīn
They are	قاعدين	qāʕdīn

Example: *قاعدين ناكلوا*.

Najjam (could, past ability)

Example: *نجّمو ياكلوا*.

Ynajjam (can, present ability)

Example: *ينجّمو ياكلوا*.

Ḥaqqū (should)

Literally “it is his right / it is fitting,” this form is grammaticalized into a modal meaning “should.”

Person	Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation
I should	حقني	ḥaqnī
You should	حقك	ḥaqik
He should	حقه	ḥaqū
She should	حقها	ḥaqhā
We should	حقنا	ḥaqnā
You should	حقكم	ḥaqkum
They should	حقهم	ḥaqhum

Example: *حقه يتكلّم*.

Lāzim / Yilzem (must / have to)

Both forms derive from the root *l-z-m* “to be necessary”:
- *lāzim* = “must”.
- *yilzem* = “have to”.
Examples:
- *لازمنا نمشيوا*.
- *يلزمنا نمشيوا*.

Māḏābīh (had better)

*Māḏābīh** expresses preference or advisability, often glossed as “had better / would like.” It inflects with pronominal suffixes.

Person	Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation
I had better	ماذابيا	māḏābīyā
You had better	ماذابيك	māḏābīk
He had better	ماذابيه	māḏābīh
She had better	ماذابيها	māḏābīhā
We had better	ماذابينا	māḏābīnā
You had better	ماذابيكم	māḏābīkum
They had better	ماذابيهم	māḏābīhum

Example: *ماذابينا نمشيوا*.

Discourse markers

Tunisian Arabic involve Discourse markers that are used to emphasize some facts in discussions. These facts could be even evidences and conclusions.

Evidence markers

Evidence markers are mainly modal verbs. ṛāhū راهه is used to mark a fact as evident in the affirmative form. It is substituted by ṃāhū ماهه when asking about a supposed evident fact.

Conclusion markers

Conclusion markers are mainly conjunctions. yāxī ياخي is used to mark a fact as a conclusion in the affirmative form. It is substituted by mālā مالا when asking to approve supposed conclusion.

Preverbal markers

Preverbal markers or auxiliaries are verbs that are used to denote the status of a given action. They are conjugated as Subject + Preverbal marker + Action Verb. For example, qūm ixdim قوم اخدم meaning go to work.

Tunisian Arabic	English	Status
kān كان + Action Verb	to be doing something	Finalization
bdā بدا + Action Verb	to begin doing something	Initiation
qɛad قعد + Action Verb	to stay doing something	Progression
ɛāwid عاود + Action Verb	to return doing something	Repetition
ḥabb حب + Action Verb	to like doing something	Passion
jā جا + Action Verb	to come doing something	Intention
qām قام + Action Verb	to stand up to do something	Intention
ṣār صار + Action Verb	to become doing something	Initiation
wallā ولى + Action Verb	to become doing something	Initiation
mšā مشى + Action Verb	to be going to do something	Intention
bqā بقى + Action Verb	to remain doing something	Progression
rjaɛ رجع + Action Verb	to return doing something	Repetition
jarrib جرب + Action Verb	to try doing something	Experimentation
ittilizim اتلزم + Action Verb	to engage oneself in doing something	Engagement
kammal كمل + Action Verb	to finish doing something	Finalization

Verb conjugation

Perfective and imperfective tenses

Regular verbs

There are significant differences in morphology between Tunisian and Standard Arabic. Standard Arabic marks 13 person/number/gender distinctions in the verbal paradigm, whereas the dialect of Tunis marks only 7. Nomadic Tunisian Arabic dialects also mark gender for the second person in singular, in common with most spoken varieties of Arabic elsewhere in the Arabic world.
In general, the regular verbs are conjugated according to the following pattern:
The second-person singular of the three Nomadic Tunisian Arabic dialects has distinct masculine and feminine forms, with the masculine forms being as above كتبت ktibt and تكتب tiktib, and the feminine forms being كتبتِ ktibtī and تكتبي tiktbī.

Weak verbs

Verbs with a final semivowel ā, known as "weak" verbs, have a different pattern. This pattern is determined according to the third letter in the root of the verb. Moreover, the verbs having a glottal stop as a first letter of their root are also considered as weak verbs.
Nomadic dialects have a different third-person singular feminine perfective form as in مشيت, حبيت, بديت and خذيت and delete the stem vowel in the plural imperfective forms, giving forms such as نمشوا, نحبوا, نبدوا and نوخذوا. Furthermore, Sahil and Southeastern dialects tend to use in place of in the perfective conjugation. For example, تمشيوا timcīū is pronounced as in Sahil and southeastern dialects.

Future tense

The future tense in Tunisian Arabic is also similar to Berber, more precisely Zenata Berber that was spoken by the majority of Tunisians' ancestors:

باش bāš + verb → "will" + verb
ماش māš or باش bāš + verb → "will" + verb

Taw or Tawwa can be used as a time indicator with a verb in present to mean "being going to do something".

Imperative tense

The imperative form is considered the stem for the present tense.

Singular	Plural
ušrub اُشْرُبْ	ušrbū اُشْرْبوا
aɛṭī اَعْطي	aɛṭīū اَعْطِيوا

Conditional tenses

Conditional present

The conditional present is conjugated as Kaṛū or Ḥaqqū + Verb in Present tense. This tense is generally used to show regret.

Conditional past

I should have done something

For the past conditional, the same structures seen above are used, but instead of the present tense, the past tense is used.

I could have done something

This structure is conjugated as kān ynajjam + Verb in the present tense.

Pronoun	Auxiliary Verb
ānā آنا	kunt nnajjam كنت نّجّم
intī إنتي	kunt tnajjam كنت تنجّم
hūwa هوة	kān ynajjam كان ينجّم
hīya هية	kānit tnajjam كانت تنجّم
aḥnā أحنا	kunnā nnajjmū كنّا نّجّموا
intūmā إنتوما	kuntū tnajjmū كنتوا تنجّموا
hūma هومة	kānū ynajjmū كانوا ينجّموا

I would have done something

This structure is conjugated as ṛāhū + Verb in the present tense.

Verb derivation

Verb derivation is done by adding prefixes or by doubling consonants to the simple verb having the root fɛa'l or f'aɛli'l'. The verb's root determines the possible derivations. Generally, the patterns used in Verb Derivation are the same as in Standard Arabic.

Triconsonantal verbs

Causative: is obtained by doubling consonants :

Adding ā between the first two radical consonants, e.g. xālaṭ “to frequent”Inchoative: Adding ā between the last two radical consonants, e.g. ḥmār “turn red”Passive: This derivation is influenced by Berber and is different from the one of Classical Arabic, it is obtained by prefixing the verb with,, or :
Prefixing ist– to the verb, e.g. istaxbar “to get informed”
Prefixing i- to the verb and Infixing t after the first radical consonant, e.g. اجتمع ijtmaɛ “to assemble”

Quadriconsonantal verbs

Prefixing it– to the verb, e.g. اتفركس itfarkis “to be searched”

Verb forms

Exclamative form

The exclamative form can be formed by the intonation and in this particular situation, the sentence ends with an exclamation mark to distinguish it from an affirmative sentence Furthermore, it can be formed using Qaddāš + Noun or Possessive Pronoun + Adjective or Imperfective verb + !.

Interrogative form

The interrogative form can be formed by two methods: The intonation and the Suffix -š. When an interrogative adverb or pronoun exists, the question is an āš question that is equivalent to the English wh question and if the question does not involve any interrogative adverb or pronoun, it is an īh/lā question that is equivalent to the English Yes/No Question.The Intonation: Which is a variation of the spoken pitch to distinguish a question from an affirmative sentence. In writing, a question mark is used after an affirmative sentence to transform it into an interrogative sentence.
Example: تحبّ تمشي لتونس tḥibb timšī l- tūnis?, Do you want to go to Tunisia?The Suffix -š: -š or -šī can be suffixed to the verb to indicate an interrogative sentence.
Example: تعرفوشي؟ taɛṛfūšī?, Do you know him?

Negative form

With verbs conjugated in the present, past and conditional tenses:
To make the negative form, we put me in front of the verb and š at the end of the verb.

Example: ما فهمش الدرس mā fhimš id-dars, He didn't understand the lesson.

N.B.: With the past conditional this negative form is used with the main verb.
Example: لوكان عرفت راني ما جيتش lūkān ɛṛaft rānī mā jītš, If I knew I would not have come.With The Future And Present Participle:
To negate the present participles and the verbs conjugated in the future, mūš, or its conjugated form, is added in front of the verb.

Example: موش باش نشوفه الجمعة هاذي mūš bāš nšūfū ij-jumɛa hāđī, I won't see him this week.

موش mūš is conjugated as follows:

Pronoun	Auxiliary Verb
ānā آنا	mānīš مانيش
intī إنتي	mākiš ماكش
hūwa هوة	māhūš ماهوش
hīya هية	māhīš ماهيش
aḥnā أحنا	mānāš مناش
intūmā انتوما	mākumš مكمش
hūmā هومة	māhumš مهمش

Relative clause

The only relative pronoun used in Tunisian Arabic is illī meaning who or that and its short form is lī.

Nouns

Gender

Masculine gender

Nouns ending either in a consonant, u, i, ū or ī are usually masculine.
For example: باب bāb “door”, كرسي kursī “chair”.
There are, however, some exceptions. Indeed, some consonant-final and some ī-final nouns are in the feminine gender.
For example: پاريز Pārīz “Paris”, بيت bīt “room”, بسكلات bisklāt “bicycle”.

Uninflected feminine gender

Nouns ending with a or ā vowel are usually in the feminine.
For example: سنّة sinna “tooth”, خريطة xarīṭa “map”.
There are, however, a few exceptions: أعمى aɛmā “blind man”, ممشى mamšā “alley”, عشاء ɛšā “dinner”.

Inflected feminine gender

Feminization: Generally, male nouns form their feminine by the suffixation of a vowel. For example, كلب kalb > كلبة kalba, جدّ jadd > جدّة jadda, بطل bṭal > بطلة baṭla. Some male nouns, however, do not form their feminine by the suffixation of a, but have suppletive female counterparts. For example, راجل rājel > مرا mra, ولد wlad > طفلة ṭufla, بو bū > أمّ umm.Individual singular of collective plural and mass nouns: Similarly, collective plural and mass nouns form their feminine by the suffixation of a. For example, زيتون zītūn “olive” > زيتونة zītūna “an olive”, تمر tmar “dates” > تمرة tamra “a date”.Individual singular of verbal nouns: Generally, verbal nouns form their individual singulars by the suffixation of a. For example, بني bany > بنية banya, تفركيس tfarkīs > تفركيسة tfarkīsa.

The dual

Marking of the dual for nouns by adding -īn as a suffix to them is only used for quantity measures, for nouns having the CCVC form such as C is an ungeminated consonant and V is a short vowel and things often occurring in twos. In general, these nouns have broken plurals and not regular ones. Marking of the dual is also done by writing zūz before the regular or irregular plural noun. For example:

صبع sbūɛ becomes صبعين sūbɛīn
ليل līl becomes زوز ليالي zūz lyālī

The plural

The plural in Tunisian can be classified according to its structure. There are mainly two types of structure: suffixed structure and internal structure. However and as reported in many studies, the rate of broken plurals for Tunisian and by that the rate of the use of the Pluralization Internal Structure is more important than the one for Standard Arabic and several other Arabic dialects. This considerable use of the Internal Structure of Pluralization is considered by most linguists as an influence of the Berber substratum.
Using the Suffixed Structure, Singular nouns may form their plural by the suffixation of any of the following plural suffixes:
This kind of plural is considered as regular plurals. However, There is a suffixed structure which is considered as a broken plural which is the plural of name of the noun constituted of the name of a town or a group of people and the suffix ī. This structure is done to attribute the person to a group or a city and its plural is obtained by adding ā after the second letter of the root and adding a as a suffix in the end of the word.
Using the Internal Structure, the plural in Tunisian follows the following patterns such as C is an ungeminated consonant, V is a short vowel, C: is a geminated consonant:

Singular pattern	Plural pattern
CūC	CCāCī
CāC	CīCān
CaCCaC	CaCāCiC
CCaC	CCūCāt
CaCC	CCāC
CCāC	CCuC
CiCC	CCūC
CVCCVC or CVCCVCa	CCāCiC
CāCiC or CaCC	CCūC
CāCiC	CVC:āC
CVCC	CCūCa
CiCCa	CCiC
CCaC	uCCCa
CaCCa	CCaC

CaCC, CCaC and CāCiC could have multiple patterns as plural noun patterns. The criterion of the choice of the plural form for CaCC, CCaC and CāCiC is still not known.

Adjectives

Gender

Masculine

Uninflected adjectives are masculine singular. There are two main types of adjectives:Participial adjectives: Participles, whether real or historical, may function both as adjectives and nouns.
E.g. متغشّش mtġaššaš “angry”.Other adjectives: These include any non-participial adjectives.
E.g. طويل ṭwīl “tall”.

Feminine

Like participles and some nouns, adjectives form their feminine by the suffixation of a.
For example, جيعان jīɛān > جيعانة jīɛāna “hungry”, سخون sxūn > سخونة sxūna “hot”.
In some cases, when the adjective ends with an i vowel, the i becomes a y. E.g. باهي bāhi > باهية bāhya
Some uninflected adjectives are in the feminine. Their masculine counterparts are either suppletive or do not exist.
For example: حبلة ḥibla “pregnant”, عزوزة ɛzūza “old woman”.
The masculine counterpart of عزوزة ɛzūza is شايب šāyib, though, عزوز ɛzūz exists in some idiolects.
Some adjectives cannot be inflected either for gender or number. E.g. وردي wardi “pink”, حموم ḥmūm “disastrous”.

Number

Unlike nouns, adjectives are not inflected for dual. The plural is used instead.
Like nouns, there are two main types of structure: suffixed structure and internal structure.Suffixed Structure: There are two types of plural suffixes which can be suffixed to a singular adjective: –īn and –a.Internal Structure: Generally, adjective's plural follows the following structures: CCāC, CuCCā, CCāCiC, CCuC, CCaC, CCāCa, CCī, CuCCān, CCaC:Ca, CVC:āC, CūCa and CCāCCa.

Adjective forms

Comparative form

The comparative of superiority: The comparative form is the same whether the adjective is feminine or masculine.

Adjectives composed of 3 consonants with a full vowel on the second The comparative form is formed by adding a before the adjective and by replacing the full vowel with a breve vowel, plus min after the adjective. E.g. كبير kbīr > أكبر من akbar min “bigger than”
Adjectives ending with a vowel The comparative is formed by adding a as a prefix, and replacing the final vowel with ā. When the first syllable of the adjective has a long vowel, this vowel is removed. E.g. عالي ɛālī > أعلى aɛlā min “higher than”.

The comparative of inferiority: It's formed by the following structure: أقلّ aqall + noun + من min. For example, هي أقلّ طول من خوها hīya aqall ṭūl min xūha “she’s less tall than her brother”
The comparative of equality: It is formed by using the following structure: noun + فرد fard + noun + personal pronoun + و w + noun. For example, فاطمة فرد طول هي و خوها Fāṭma fard ṭūl hīya w xūha “Fatma is as tall as her brother”. This structure can be simplified as follows: noun + و w + noun + فرد fard + noun. For example, فاطمة و خوها فرد طول Fāṭma w xūha fard ṭūl “Fatma is as tall as her brother”

Superlative form

It is formed by adding واحد wāḥid, واحدة waḥda or وحود wḥūd after the comparative of superiority.

Proportion in Tunisian Arabic

In order to denote the proportion of the participants in the given action from a greater community, the adjectives and adverbs of proportion shown here are used.

کل kull “Every”
جمیع or معا بعضنا jmīɛ or mɛā bɛaḑnā “Together”
بعض or شويّة baɛḑ or šwayya “Some”
فرد fard “Same”
وحد waḥd with possessive pronoun “Alone”

Numerals

Cardinals

Cardinal numbers: The transcription of cardinal numbers is the same as in English and some other European languages. The number is read from left to right. This table provides several examples of names of cardinals in Tunisian Arabic and can give a better overview about this fact.

Cardinal	Tunisian Arabic
0	ṣfir صفر
1	wāḥid واحد
2	iŧnīn or zūz اثنين or زوز
3	ŧlāŧa ثلاثة
4	arbɛa أربعة
5	xamsa خمسة
6	sitta ستّة
7	sabɛa سبعة
8	ŧmanya ثمانية
9	tisɛa تسعة
10	ɛacra عشرة
11	ḥdāc احداش
12	ŧnāc اثناش
13	ŧluṭṭāc ثلظّاش
14	arbaɛṭāc اربعطاش
15	xumsṭāc خمسطاش
16	sutṭāc سطّاش
17	sbaɛṭāc سبعطاش
18	ŧmanṭāc ثمنطاش
19	tsaɛṭāc تسعطاش
20	ɛicrīn عشرين
21	wāḥid w ɛicrīn واحد وعشرين
30	ŧlāŧīn ثلاثين
40	arbɛīn أربعين
50	xamsīn خمسين
60	sittīn ستّين
70	sabɛīn سبعين
80	ŧmanīn ثمانين
90	tisɛīn تسعين
100	mya مية
101	mya w wāḥid مية وواحد
110	mya w ɛacra مية وعشرة
200	mītīn ميتين
300	ŧlāŧamya ثلاثة مية
1000	alf الف
1956	alf w tisɛamya w sitta w xamsīn الف وتسعة مية وستّة وخمسين
2000	alfīn الفين
10000	ɛacra lāf عشرة الاف
100000	myat elf مية الف
1000000	malyūn مليون
123456789	mya w ŧlāŧa w ɛicrīn malyūn w arbɛa mya w sitta w xamsīn alf w sabɛa mya w tisɛa w ŧmanīn مية وثلاثة وعشرين مليون وأربعة مية وستّة وخمسين الف وسبعة ميه وتسعة وثمانين
1000000000	milyār مليار

Nouns following a cardinal number:

* Number one is generally not used with the single object counted unless we want to emphasize that there is only a single thing. E.g. طاولة ṭāwla “a table”, طاولة واحدة ṭāwla waḥda “one table”.
* For the number two, we use the dual of the noun or we use زوز zūz plus the plural of the noun.
* From 3 to 10, we use the number plus the plural of the noun. E.g. خمسة كتب xamsa ktub “five books”.
* From 11 to 19, we use the number to which we add the consonant n plus the noun in singular. E.g. سبعطاش كتاب sbaɛţācn ktāb “17 books”.
* From 20 to 99, we use the number plus the singular. E.g. ثمانين دينار ŧmānīn dinār “80 Dinars”
* For numbers ending with a like مية mya, an –at is suffixed to it when used with a noun. E.g. مية دولار myāt dolār “100 dollars”.
* For the other numbers, we use the number plus the singular. E.g. الف ميترو alf mītrū “1000 meters”.
* Number zero is generally expressed as حتّى ḥatta + noun. E.g. حتّى كرهبة ḥatta karhba “zero cars”.

Months of the year

Note, that in this case, the modern months are a tunisification of the name of the months from French, inherited from the protectorate times.
The native names of the months were that of their original Latin names, following the berber calendar:

Standard English	Tunisian Arabic
January	Yennār ينار، يناير
February	Fūrār فورار، فورسير
March	Mārsū مارسو
April	Abrīl أبريل
May	Māyū مايو
June	Yūnyū يونيو
July	Yūlyū يوليو
August	Awūsū أووسو
September	Shtamber شتمبر
October	Uktūber أكتوبر
November	Nūfember نوفمبر
December	Dejember دجمبر

Ordinals

The ordinals in Tunisian are from one to twelve only, in case of higher numbers, the cardinals are used.

English Ordinals	Masculine	Feminine	Plural
First	أول uwwil or أولاني ūlānī	أولى ūlā or أولانية ūlānīya	أولين ūlīn or أولانين ūlānīn
Second	ثاني ŧāni	ثانية ŧānya	ثانين ŧānīn
Third	ثالت ŧāliŧ	ثالتة ŧālŧa	ثالتين ŧālŧīn
Fourth	رابع rābiɛ	رابعة rābɛa	رابعين rābɛīn
Fifth	خامس xāmis	خامسة xāmsa	خامسين xāmsīn
Sixth	سادس sādis	سادسة sādsa	سادسين sādsīn
Seventh	سابع sābiɛ	سابعة sābɛa	سابعين sābɛīn
Eighth	ثامن ŧāmin	ثامنة ŧāmna	ثامنين ŧāmnīn
Ninth	تاسع tāsiɛ	تاسعة tāsɛa	تاسعين tāsɛīn
Tenth	عاشر ɛāšir	عاشرة ɛāšra	عاشرين ɛāšrīn
Eleventh	حادش ḥādiš	حادشة ḥādša	حادشين ḥādšīn
Twelfth	ثانش ŧāniš	ثانشة ŧānšā	ثانشين ŧānšīn

Fractions

There are special forms for fractions from two to ten only, elsewhere percentage is used. The Fractions can be used for various purposes like the expression of proportion and the expression of time... For example, the expression of 11:20 in Tunisian Arabic is il-ḥdāc w ŧluŧ and the expression of 11:40 in Tunisian Arabic is nuṣṣ il-nhār ġīr ŧluŧ. Similarly, midnight is nuṣṣ il-līl and noon is nuṣṣ il-nhār.

Standard English	Tunisian Arabic
one half	نصف nuṣf or نصّ nuṣṣ
one third	ثلث ŧluŧ
one quarter	ربع rbuɛ
one fifth	خمس xmus
one sixth	سدس sdus
one seventh	سبع sbuɛ
one eighth	ثمن ŧmun
one ninth	تسع tsuɛ
one tenth	عشر ɛšur

Time measurement during the day

As said above, time measurement method and vocabulary below 1 hour is very peculiar in Tunisian and is not found in neither the other dialects of Maghrebi Arabic or standard Arabic. Indeed, Tunisian, uses fractions of 1 hour and a special unit of 5 minutes called دراج "drāj", to express time. Also, as in English as "it's 3 am/pm" or just "it's 3" and contrary to other languages such as standard Arabic, Tunisian do not precise the word "sāɛa " when expressing the time of the day as the subject is considered implied. Below is the list of the vocabulary used for time indication:

Standard English	Tunisian Arabic
1 second	ثانية ŧānya or سيڨوندة sīgūnda
1 minute	دقيقة dqīqa
5 minutes	درج draj
15 minutes	ربع rbuɛ
20 minutes	ثلث ŧluŧ or أربعة دراج arbɛa drāj
30 minutes	نصّ nuṣṣ

Basic measures

The Basic units for Tunisian Arabic are used in the same way as in English.

Standard English	Tunisian Arabic
Three	kānūn كانون
Four	ḥāra حارة
Five	ɛiddat īdik عدّة إيدك
Twelve	ṭuzzīna طزّينة
One centimeter	ṣāntī صانتي
One meter	mītrū ميترو
One deciliter	ɛšūrīya عشورية
Two deciliters	xmūsīya خموسية
A quarter of a litre	rbuɛ ītra ربع إيترة
One litre	ītra إيترة
Ten litres	dīga ديڨة
Ten liters	galba ڨلبة
Twenty liters	wība ويبة
Three grams	ūqīya أوقية
One pound	rṭal رطل
One kilogram	kīlū كيلو
One ton	ṭurnāṭa طرناطة
One second	ŧānya or sīgūnda ثانية or سيڨوندة
One minute	dqīqa دقيقة
Five minutes	draj درج
One hour	sāɛa ساعة
One day	nhar نهار
One week	jumɛa جمعة
One month	šhar شهر
One year	ɛām عام
One century	qarn قرن

The measure units are accorded when in dual or in plural, for example:

dqīqa becomes دقيقتين dqīqtīn in dual
sāɛa becomes سوايع swāyaɛ in plural

Prepositions

There are two types of prepositions: single and compound prepositions.

Compound prepositions

Compound prepositions are the prepositions that are obtained through the succession of two single prepositions. وسط Wusṭ, جيهة jīhit, شيرة šīrit and متاع mtāɛ can be used as second prepositions with any single preposition before it excepting وسط Wusṭ, جيهة jīhit, شيرة šīrit and متاع mtāɛ. The other prepositions are: من بين min bīn, من بعد min baɛd, من عند min ɛand, من تحت min taḥt, من قبل min qbal, من فوق min fūq, من ورا min wrā, كيف بعد kīf baɛd, كيف عند kīf ɛand, كيف تحت kīf taḥt, كيف قبل kīf qbal, كيف فوق kīf fūq, كيف ورا kīf wrā, كيف معا kīf mɛā, قبل فوق qbal fūq, على فوق ɛlā fūq, بتحت b- taḥt, في تحت fī taḥt, ببلاش b- blāš, من قدّام min quddām and حتّى قدّام ḥattā quddām.

Conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions link verbs, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, clauses, phrases and sentences of the same structure.

Standard English	Tunisian Arabic
And	w و
Or	w illā... wallā وإلّا.. ولّا
Either... or	ammā... w illā/wallā أمّا و إلّا\ولّا
But	lākin لكن, amā أما
Without	min/mā ğīr mā من\ما غير ما
Only	mā... kān ما.. كان
The contrary of	ɛaks min/mā عكس من\ما
And then	hāk il-sāɛa هاك الساعة, sāɛathā ساعتها, waqthā وقتها, w iđā bīh و إذا بيه
In brief	il-ḥāṣil الحاصل, il-ḥaṣīlū الحصيلو
Sometimes... sometimes	marra... marra مرّة.. مرّة, sāɛa... sāɛa ساعة.. ساعة, sāɛāt ساعات
As far as	qadd mā قدّ ما, qadd قدّ
Before	qbal قبل
Otherwise	kānšī
Moreover, Besides	bāra min hak
Consequently	ɛal hak
In addition	lī zāda
Instead	lī ɛāwiđ
Overall	f- il-kul
Above all else	min fuq hāđa il-kul
Anyway	kul f- il-kul
Also	zāda

Subordinate conjunctions

Subordinate conjunctions introduce dependent clauses only. There two types of conjunctions: single and compound. The compound conjunctions mainly consist of prepositions that are compound with illī. The main Subordinate conjunctions for Tunisian are Waqt illī وقت اللي “When”, m- illī ماللي “Since”, qbal mā قبل ما “Before”, īđā إذا “If”, lūkān لوكان “If”, mā ما "what", bāš باش “In order to”, خاطر) “because”, حسب ما) “According to”.

Adverbs

Adverbs can be subdivided into three subgroups: single, compound and interrogative.

Single adverbs

Adverbs of time:

* tawwa توة Now
* taww تو A moment ago
* dīmā ديما Always
* bikrī بكري Early
* fīsaɛ فيسع Fast, quickly
* māzāl مازال StillAdverbs of place:
* hnā هنا Here
* ġādī غادي There Adverbs of manner:
* hakka هكة Like this
* hakkāka, hakkīka هكاكة، هكيكة Like thatAdverbs of measure:
* barša برشة Much, very
* šwayya شوية Little
* yāsir ياسر Very, much
* taqrīb تقريب About
* bark برك Only

Compound adverbs

Adverbs of time:

* taww taww تو تو Here and now / Immediately
* min baɛd من تو Afterwards
* min bikrī من بكري A moment ago
* min tawwa من توة From now onAdverbs of place:
* l- fūq لفوق On
* l- il-ūṭa لأوطى Bellow
* id- dāxil لداخل In
* l- barra لبرة Out
* l- quddām لقدام Upwards
* it- tālī لتالي Backwards
* min hūnī من هوني From here
* min ġādī من غادي From thereAdverbs of manner:
* b- is-sīf بالسيف Forcibly
* b- is-syāsa بالسياسة gently
* b- il-ɛānī بالعاني Purposely
* b- iš-šwaya بالشوية Slowly
* b- iz-zarba بالزربة RapidlyAdverbs of measure:
* ɛa- il-aqall عالاقل At least

Interrogative adverbs

Adverbs of the time:

* waqtāš وقتاش When
* nhārāš نهاراش Which day
* ɛāmāš عاماش Which yearAdverbs of place:
* wīn, fīn وين، فين Where
* l- wīn لوين Where to
* min wīn, mnīn من وين، منين Where fromAdverbs of manner:
* kīfāš كيفاش HowAdverbs of measure:
* qaddāš قداش How much

Nouns derived from verbs

The nouns derived from verbs are the Active Participle, the Passive Participle and the Verbal Noun.

Participles

Active Participle: The Active Participle is the noun used to call the person or the object who/that did the action. It can be used as a subject and an adjective.

* They are obtained for the simple verb having the root fɛa'l or f'aɛli'l by adding ā between the first and the second letters of the root and changing the vowel between the last but one and the last letters of the root into i. For example, ɛāzif عازف is instrument player in Tunisian and is obtained from the verb ɛzaf عزف.
* They are obtained for the derived verbs by adding m as a prefix and changing the vowel between the last but one and the last letters of the root into i. For example, mšērik مشارك is a participant in Tunisian and is obtained from the verb šērik شارك.Passive Participle: The Passive Participle is the noun used to call the person or the object who/that received the action. It can be used as a subject and an adjective.
* They are obtained for the simple verb having the root fɛal' or fa'ɛlil' by adding ma as a prefix and changing the vowel between the last but one and the last letters of the root into ū. For example, maɛzūfa معزوفة is a musical composition in Tunisian and is obtained from the verb ɛzaf عزف.
* They are obtained for the derived verbs by adding m as a prefix and changing the vowel between the last but one and the last letters of the root into a. For example, mhaddad مهدد is threatened person in Tunisian and is derived from the verb haddad هدد.

Verbal noun

The verbal noun is the noun that indicates the done action itself.
Its form is known through the pattern and root of the verb from which it is derived or rather the pattern of its singular imperative conjugation.Simple Verb:

* CiCC or Triconsonantal Verb: According to the root
** Regular: CiCC or CiCCa
** ʔ-C-C: māCCa
** C-C-ʔ: CCāya
** C-C-j: CiCy, CiCyān or CiCya
** C-w-C: CawCān
** C-C₁-C₁: CaC₁C₁ān
* CaCCiC or Quadriconsonantal Verb: CaCCCaDerived Verb: According to the pattern
* Regular: Verbal nouns for all regular derived verbs is obtained through the addition of ā between the last and the last but one letter of the root.
* Irregular:
** Doubling the second letter of the root: taCCīC
** Adding t as a prefix and doubling the second letter of the root: tCaC₁C₁uC₂
** Adding t as a prefix and ā between the first and the second letter of the root: tCāCuC
** Adding i as a prefix and t between the first and second letter of the root: iCtCāC