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 | ānā آنا | aḥnā أحنا |
| 2nd | intī إنتِي | intūmā انتوما |
| 3rd | hūwa هوة | hūma هومة |
| 3rd | hīya هية | hūma هومة |
Example : آنا زادة « Āna 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”
- فلان flān, Fem. فلانة flāna “such”
- أيّ eyy “Any”
- إلّي يجي illī yjī, Fem. إلّي تجي illī tjī “Anyone”
- كل واحد kull wāḥid “Everyone”
- حاجة ḥāja “Something”
- حتّى واحد ḥattā wāḥid “No one”
- آخر āxir, أخرة uxra, أخرين uxrīn “Other”
- الكل il-kull “Everybody”
Interrogative pronouns
| 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
| 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
Differently from English which uses base form for the second verb, Tunisian Arabic uses present form for it. However, the second verb could be in the past form for the three modal verbs راه rāh, حقّه Haqqū and ماذابيه māđābīh which do not have a past form. Moreover, قاعد qāɛid could be used before an active participle. Furthermore, all the modal verbs could be in negative form as in Standard English excepting راهه rāhū and ماذابيه māđābīh. For example, ماذابينا نمشيوا māđābīnā nimšīū becomes in negative form ماذابينا ما نمشيوش māđābīnā mā nimšīūš and راهه تكلّم Rāhū tkallim becomes in negative form راهه ما تكلّمش Rāhū mā tkallimš.Hāhū (To be, drawing attention to the presence of the referent)
Example: هاني هوني « Hānī hūnī. » "I'm here."Ṛāhū (To be, with more intensity by emphasizing it)
Example : راني هوني « Ṛānī hūnī. » — "attention, I'm here."Māhū (To be, as an evidence marker or in a questioning manner as in [tag question]s)
Example : ماني هوني « Mānī hūnī. » — "Am I not, here ?." or « Māchīn, māhū ?. » — "We are going, isn't it?."Qāɛid (To be, at the immediate moment)
Example : قاعدين ناكلوا « Qāɛdīn nāklū. » — "we are eating."Najjam (Could)
Example : نجموا ياكلوا « najjmū yāklū. » — "They could eat."Ynajjam (Can, To be able to)
Example : ينجّموا ياكلوا « Ynajjmū yāklū. » — "They can eat."Ḥaqū (Should)
Example : حقه يتكلّم « Ḥaqū yitkallim. » — "He should speak."Kaṛū (Would better, stronger intensity than should)
Example : كارني تتكلّم « kaṛnī tkāllimt. » — "I would better have spoken."Yilzmū (Have to)
Example : يلزمنا نمشيوا « Yilzimnā nimšīū. » — "We have to go."Lāzmū (Must)
Example : لازمنا نمشيوا « Lāzimnā nimšīū. » — "We must go."Māđābīh (Had better)
Example : ماذابينا نمشيوا « Māđābīnā nimšīū. » — "We had better go."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.
Irregular verbs
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
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 fɛal or faɛlil. 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.
- The Suffix -š: -š or -šī can be suffixed to the verb to indicate an interrogative sentence.
Negative form
- With verbs conjugated in the present, past and conditional tenses:
Example: ما فهمش الدرس mā fhimš il-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:
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
- سبوع sbūɛ becomes سبوعين sūbɛīn
- ليل līl becomes زوز ليالي zūz lyālī
The plural
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.
- Other adjectives: These include any non-participial adjectives.
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 “disastreous”.
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 akbir 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 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”.
Days of the week
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 |
| February | Furār |
| March | Mārsū |
| April | Abrīl |
| May | Māyū |
| June | Yūnyū |
| July | Yūlyū |
| August | Awūsū |
| September | Shtamber |
| October | Uktūber |
| November | Nūfember |
| December | Dejember |
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 | نصف nuṣf or 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
Single 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 Still
- Adverbs of place:
- * hnā هنا Here
- * ġādī غادي There
- Adverbs of manner:
- * hakka هكة Like this
- * hakkāka, hakkīka هكاكة، هكيكة Like that
- Adverbs 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 on
- Adverbs of place:
- * l- fūq لفوق On
- * l- il-ūṭa لأوطى Bellow
- * l- dāxil لداخل In
- * l- barra لبرة Out
- * l- quddām لقدام Upwards
- * l- tālī لتالي Backwards
- * min hūnī من هوني From here
- * min ġādī من غادي From there
- Adverbs of manner:
- * b- il-sīf بالسيف Forcibly
- * b- il-syāsa بالسياسة Kindly
- * b- il-ɛānī بالعاني Purposely
- * b- il-šwaya بالشوية Slowly
- * b- il-zarba بالزربة Rapidly
- Adverbs of measure:
- * ɛa- il-aqall عالاقل At least
Interrogative adverbs
- Adverbs of the time:
- * waqtāš وقتاش When
- * nhārāš نهاراش Which day
- * ɛāmāš عاماش Which year
- Adverbs of place:
- * wīn, fīn وين، فين Where
- * l- wīn لوين Where to
- * min wīn, mnīn من وين، منين Where from
- Adverbs of manner:
- * kīfāš كيفاش How
- Adverbs of measure:
- * qaddāš قداش How much
Nouns derived from verbs
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 fɛal or faɛlil 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 faɛlil 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
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: CaCCCa
- Derived 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