A study: “No” in Tunisian Arabic

In Tunisian Arabic “No” is translated as Le / لا. Here is the IBL page on “No” in Tunisian Arabic which also includes a recording and is accompanied with five translated statements.

In Arabic, which includes Tunisian Arabic, the use of Le / لا is more limited in scope and expression than how English speakers use the word No.

Le is used most commonly to:

• answer direct questions (E.g., Questions that require a Yes or No answer)
• tell someone or people imperatively to stop a behaviour
• disagree (E.g., Before someone states their alternative view they may say Le or Le Le Le in fast succession)

IBL Contributor, Aroua F. pronounces Le:

IBL Contributor, Amine B., pronounces Le:

When it comes to statements and expressions, Le is almost never used in Tunisian Arabic. Here are some examples of No-type statements in English and how they translate into Tunisian Arabic:

No sugar

Men ghir soker / من غير سكّر (can be used in a singular or plural setting). Men ghir has the effect of Without but is used as a statement. It’s most common in a café setting (or at home when coffee or tea is being made).

Alternatively, “No sugar” can also be translated in Tunisian Arabic as Blech soker / بلاش سكّر. Blech also means “Without” and can be (and is often) used in a cafe setting too, but has the additional flexibility of being used to describe something that doesn’t have sugar. For instance, if you baked muffins and a friend asked Do they have sugar? (Fihom soker? / فيهم سكّر؟) you can respond with Blech soker.

Aroua F. speaks Men ghir soker:

Aroua F. speaks Blech soker:

No, thanks

A common expression in English to turn down an offer (e.g., a person on the street asking for something or a merchant offering to sell a product) is “No, thanks”. And although Le, 3aychek / لا عيشك (Le, y3aychek / لا يعيشك) (No, thank you) is spoken amongst Tunisian Arabic speakers, perhaps, the most common expression in these settings is simply 3aychek. (Or alternatively Y3aychek / يعيشك)

Amine B. speaks 3aychek:

Aroua F. says Y3aychek:

No more

If someone wants to express that there is nothing left of a particular object (e.g., eggs, batteries, milk, etc.) what’s written / spoken is:

(masculine-based object) Wfe / وفا

(feminine-based object) Wfet / وفات

(plural) Wfew / وفاو

Fe / فا has the meaning of something ending. It also appears in other settings such as if a movie has just ended: “The movie has just ended.” is translated as:

El film mazel ki wfe.

.الفيلم مزّال كي وفا

When referencing that there is no more of an object or objects, whether to use the masculine- or feminine-based words above depends on the gender-designation of the noun that is being described. For more information on this aspect of Tunisian Arabic (like all dialects of Arabic) see the IBL article How nouns function in Tunisian Arabic.

Aroua F. speaks Wfe, Wfet & Wfew:

No problem

In Tunisian Arabic, the phrase “No problem” is translated as Mouch mochkol / موش مشكل. (Or Mch mochkol / مش مشكل) Mochkol means problem. Mouch (or Mch) has the effect of “not”. Combined the two words bring the meaning of “There isn’t a problem.”

A note that Mch / مش is a synonym to Mouch / موش. When to use which word is preferential and many Tunisian Arabic speakers will actually use both in their day-to-day vocabulary.

On the topic of the word Mouch / موش, many of the defirmative expressions in Tunisian Arabic use a variation of this word to effect the expression.

Here are three examples:

“I disagree” = (m) Manich mwefe9. / .منيش موافق (f) Manich mwef9a. / .منيش موافقة

“I don’t understood” = Mafhemtech / مفهمتش

“I’m not going to go to the restaurant yet.” = (m) Mazelt manich mechi lel restaurant / مازلت منيش ماشي للرستورون (f) Mazelt manich mechya lel restaurant / .مازلت منيش ماشية للرستورون

Aroua F. speaks Mouch mochkol & Mch mochkol:

Amine B. speaks Mafhemtech:

IBL Contributor Ismail G. pronounces Manich mwefe9 & Manich mwef9a.

It’s subtle, but what has occurred in the three examples above is that Mouch has has been split up as a prefix and suffix on the operative word. I.e., M- / -م and -ch / ش-. In Tunisian Arabic, like all the dialects of Arabic, when a word starts with M- and ends with -ch it’s in the defirmative form.

No one

“No one” in Tunisian Arabic is 7ata 7ad / .حتّى حدّ

In this context, 7ata means “No” and 7ad comes from the Fos7a word A7ad / أحد which is a shortened form of We7ed / وحدة which means “One“.

Aroua F. speaks 7ata 7ad:

Here are some example statements:

“No one is here.” = 7ata 7ad mahou houni. / .حتّى حدّ ماهو هوني

“No one has ever lived here.” = 7ata 7ad ma sken lahne. / .حتّى حدّ مسكن لهنا

“No one else is in the library.” = 7ata 7ad ekher mahou fel maktba. / .حتّى حدّ اخر ماهو في المكتبة

In Closing

In future IBL study series articles we will treat other concepts in this family of communication: Not, None and other defirmatives (e.g., “I’m not going to leave for the airport yet.”, “We’re not ready to order yet”, etc.) Do you want to dive into another language-topic on Tunisian Arabic? We suggest you study the guide, How verbs function in Tunisian Arabic. And if you want a primer on Tunisian Arabic there is the IBL article, What is Tunisian Arabic?

As always, we wish you a marvellous journey!