Rooms in Tunisian Arabic

When referring to rooms in a residence in Tunisian Arabic, the conventional words and terms are a mixture of words mostly derived from Standard Arabic (Fos7a / فصحى) and French. In this article we’ll go over how to say and write the most popular domestic rooms in Tounsi. And if you’re looking to learn how to reference the various types of residential units in Tunisian Arabic, there is an IBL article on this topic: Homes in Tunisian Arabic.

The basics

Before getting into the rooms we’ll cover three important things that will act as background information: Translating the word “Room”, the gender-designation of rooms in Tounsi, and syntax.

Room translated

At a fundamental level, Room in Tunisian Arabic is (sing.) (f) Bit / بيت (pl.) Byout / بيوت. These two words are derived from Fos7a, but interestingly, in Fos7a, Bit is used to refer to a House. In Fos7a, the words for Room & Rooms are (f) Ghorfa / غرفة & Ghouraf / غرف, respectively.

IBL Contributor, Amine B., speaks Bit & Byout:

Gender-designation of rooms

Like all forms of Arabic (and many languages in the world), Tunisian Arabic is a gender-based form of communication. How this is applicable in the context of rooms is that with only the rare exceptions, all singular form nouns in Tunisian Arabic are considered masculine- or feminine-based. And it’s this gender designation that will often inform how to spell (and pronounce) other words associated with the noun in statements.

In the case of domestic rooms (with the exception of a Garage, but a Garage isn’t technically a room in a house) all standard rooms are considered feminine-based. A house (Dar / دار ) is also considered feminine-based. But note that an apartment unit (Appartement / أبارتمون) follows its French taxonomy and is considered masculine-based.

For more information on how nouns work in Tunisian Arabic see the IBL article: How nouns function in Tunisian Arabic.

A note on syntax

When using Bit / بيت (Room, as noted above) as part of the name of a room (e.g., Living room, Dining room, etc.), etc. in opposite fashion to English, Bit actually precedes the operative word used to describe the type of room (Living [room], Dining [room], Bath[room], etc.) So as you’ll see below, for example, Living room is Bit essala. Directly translated in English with the same syntax, this would be closer to “Room for living”. This follows standard Arabic grammatical rules.

Rooms

Below we list the rooms, how they are pronounced in Tunisian Arabic, with additional information where applicable.

Living room

In Tounsi, Living room is (sing.) (f) Bit essala / بيت الصالة (pl.) Byout essala / بيوت الصالة. As noted above Bit / Byout means room. Sala is thought to come from the word in French that means Living room, Salon.

A note on possession — Rooms can become possessive through the modification of the root word using a word like mte3 / متاع. So when referencing a room here are the subjects to consider in the construction, listening or reading of a statement:

• My (I)
• Your (You)
• Your, plural (You, plural)
• His (He)
• Her (She)
• Our (We)
• Their (They)

If we apply the above methodology to a room such as, for example, Bit essala (“living room”), here is how the terms are expressed:

• My living room = Bit essala mte3i / بيت الصالة متاعي
• Your living room = Bit essala mte3ek / بيت الصالة متاعك
• Your living room (plural) = Bit essala mte3kom / بيت الصالة متاعكم
• His living room = Bit essala mte3ou / بيت الصالة متاعو
• Her living room = Bit essala mte3ha / بيت الصالة متاعها
• Our living room = Bit essala mte3na / بيت الصالة متاعنا
• Their living room = Bit essala mte3hom / بيت الصالة متاعهم

IBL Contributor, Nada A., pronounces the above series.

Bedroom

In Tounsi, Bedroom is (sing.) Bit ennoum / بيت النوم (pl.) Byout ennoum بيوت نوم.

Bathroom

In Tounsi, Bathroom is (sing.) (f) Toilette / توالات (pl.) Toiletet / توالاتات.

A note on -et: Many (but not all) French words as they have become adopted by Tunisian speakers, have been modied with the inclusion of the suffix -et / ات. The suffix -et / ات  is a hallmark of the Arabic language with plural words. This isn’t always the case though—For example, the most common term for apartment building (there is more than one) in Tunisian Arabic is still Des résidences / داي ريزيدونس, which (in the Latin script) is identical to the French spelling.

As an aside, you can always ask Where a bathroom is by asking someone, “Win el toilette?”

Kitchen

In Tounsi, Kitchen is (sing.) (f) Koujina / كوجينة (pl.) Koujinet / كوجينات. These two words are considered to be derived from Italian.

Dining room

In Tounsi, Dining room is (sing.) Bit ftour / بيت فطور (pl.) Byout ftour / بيوت فطور

IBL Contributor, Malak M. pronounces Bit ftour & Byout ftour:

Garage

In Tounsi, Garage is (sing.) (m) Garage / جاراج (pl.) Garajet / جاراجات. Unsurprisingly, Garage comes from French. (The English use of Garage also comes from French) Again, the Arabic suffix -et / ات has been applied to the word to make it more Arabic in form.

Shed

In Tounsi, Shed is (sing.) (f) Bit le5zin / بيت الخزين (pl.) Byout le5zin / بيوت الخزين.

IBL Contributor, Samar H., pronounces Bit le5zin & Byout le5zin:

Other parts of a home

Here is a list of other parts of a home:

Door — (sing.) (m) Beb / باب (pl.) Biben / بيبان

Window — (sing.) (m) Chebbek / شبّاك (pl.) Chbebek / شبابك

Malak M. pronounces Chebbek & Chbebek:

Basement — (sing.) (m) Cave / كاف (pl.) Des caves / داي كاف

(A note that in Tunisia, homes with basements aren’t as common, but they do exist in some homes (especially larger ones which may be considered a Villet / فيلا or Des chateaux / داي شاتو (Both these types of homes are covered in the IBL article, Homes in Tunisian Arabic)

Driveway — (sing.) (m) Kayes / كياس (pl.) Kayeset / كياسات

Laundry room — (sing.) (f) Bit essaboun / بيت الصابون (pl.) Byout essaboun / بيوت الصابون

Front yard — (sing.) (f) Jarda 9oddemiyya / جردة قدّاميّة (pl.) Jrod 9oddemiyyin / جرد قدّاميّين

Back yard — (sing.) (f) Jarda tileniyya / جردة تيلانيّة (pl.) Jrod tileniyyin /جرد تيلانيّين.

In closing

For this article, we will leave you with a final translation: “Welcome home” is Mar7ba bik / مرحبا بيك.

In addition to the article noted in this article (Homes in Tunisian Arabic) there is also an IBL list titled Tunisian Arabic—Around the home which may assist you in learning how to speak and write Tounsi in a domestic setting. (the list has over 80 principal words translated with recordings & over 300 statements in Tounsi)

Further, all the core content listed in this article were nouns. As mentioned above, if you’re looking to construct statements using nouns in Tunisian Arabic, we recommend you read the article, How nouns function in Tunisian Arabic.

As always, we wish you a marvellous journey!