A study: “When” in Tunisian Arabic

The word “When” when translated into various languages is a fundamental form of communication. It is commonly the premise of communicating expressions that have to do with time. And it has other functions such as being synonymous with the word “During”, in English. (We’ll talk more when cooking.) In this article we are going to study, to a greater degree, the word “When” in Tunisian Arabic.

(This article is put of IBL’s study series that examines, to a greater degree how specific words & phrases function in Mediterranean-based languages & dialects. As such you might find also find useful in the series: A study: “What” in Tunisian Arabic and A study: “Why” in Tunisian Arabic.)

In Tunisian Arabic, When, in the context of time, is translated as:

Wa9tech / وقتاش

To see the contrast, When, in Standard Arabic (Fos7a / فصحى) is: متى / Mata

Commonly, Tunisian Arabic speakers also communicate Wa9teh / وقتاه instead of Wa9tech /وقتاش. It hasn’t been observed that the difference in use is regional but instead there is the notion that some prefer Wa9teh because it’s slightly easier & faster to communicate. (Both in speech and written) Both spellings and pronunciations are considered synonymous and known amongst Tunisian Arabic speakers.

IBL Contributor, Aroua F., pronounces Wa9tech:

IBL Contributor, Aroua F., pronounces Wa9teh:

When, as in during, can be translated as: (synonymous)

• Ki / كي
• Wa9teli / وقتلّي
• Wa9t / واقت

When “When” is used in the context of during, whether to use Ki, Wa9teli or Wa9t is completely synonymous. So for instance, in the statement: “Call me when you arrive.” it can be reasonably translated in Tounsi as:

• Kalamni ki tousel / كلّمني كي توصل
• Kalamni wa9teli tousel / كلّمني وقتلي توصل
• Kalamni wa9t tousel / كلّمني وقت توصل

Aroua F. pronounces Ki, Wa9teli & Wa9t:

Aroua F. pronounces Kalamni ki tousel, Kalamni wa9teli tousel & Kalamni wa9t tousel:

Wa9tech vs. Wa9t

In many statements that pertain to time, Wa9t (which fundamentally means “Time”) is often cognate with “When” too. Here is the different / when to use Wa9tech versus Wa9t:

• Wa9tech: When used at the start of a question. (E.g., When are you done class today? — Wa9tech kamalt l9raya lyoum? / وقتاش كمّلت القراية اليوم؟)
• Wa9t: When used in affirmative statements. (E.g., We’ll go eat when your father gets home. — Bech nemchiw neklou ki bouk yrawa7. / .باش ناكلو كي بوك يروّح)

Context of time

Below are three examples of When used in Tunisian Arabic, in the context of time:

“When can you meet?”

• Wa9tech najmou net9ablou? / وقتاش نجمو نتقابلو؟

“When will you two arrive?”

• Wa9tech touslou? / وقتاش توصلو؟

“We’ll get you two candy when we get there.”

• Ataw njiboulkom 7alwa ki njiw. / أتو نجيبولكم حلوى كي نجيو

Context of during:

“We’ll talk more about the project when we meet.”

• Ataw nzidou na7kiw akther 3la l machrou3 ki net9ablou. / .أتو نزيدو نحكيو أكثر على المشروع كي نتقابلو

“We’ll call your sister when we’re making dinner.”

• Ataw nkalmou okhtek wa9teli nabdew ntaybou fel 3che. / .أتو نكلمو أختك وقتلّي نبداو نطيبو في العشاء

When something is due

In the context of when something is due, or something will occur until, the letter L- / -ل is prefixed to Wa9tech. In English L- / -ل means “For”, and acts as a preposition. So for instance:

“When is your essay due?” is Lwa9tech l essai? / لوقتاش الايساي؟

Using the L- / -ل prefix, it has the effect of, when translated into English, of: “For when is your essay due?”

A note that there is a subtle difference in contexts: In “When is your flight tomorrow? doesn’t use L- / -ل because although the flight will leave at a specific time, it has more of an occurring versus “due”-type meaning. In other words the L- / -ل is used in situations when something must be done by a certain time versus just the time that something is scheduled to occur.

When speaking about time

“When are your going to set the alarm for?”

• Lwa9tech bech t3amer l’alarme? / لوقتاش باش تعمّر الأللارم؟

“When are you going to start (making) dinner?”

• Wa9tech bech tabda tayeb fel 3che? / وقتاش باش تبدى تطيّب في العشاء؟

“When should we leave for the airport?”

• M3a wa9tech lezemna nemchiw lel matar? / مع وقتاش لازمنا نمشيو للمطار؟

In closing

Being able to communicate When in Tunisian Arabic will give you another important building block in understanding and speaking the dialect of Arabic. If you want to learn more about Tunisian Arabic, including the three ways to write and pronounce Tunisian Arabic there is the IBL article What is Tunisian Arabic? If you want to study a grammatical topic, there is the IBL article: How nouns function in Tunisian Arabic. And you can also consult the IBL catalogue which has over 4,800 Tunisian Arabic principal words translated (with recordings) at the time of this writing and over 15,000 accompanying statements.

Enjoy learning Tounsi.

And as always, we wish you a marvellous journey!