Years in Tunisian Arabic
In this article we’ll cover how years work in Tunisian Arabic.
We will cover:
Which calendar
In Tunisian Arabic a year is written as (sing) (m) 3am / عام (pl) A3wem / اعوام. (In Standard Arabic (Fos7a) Year and Years are spelled the same way)
Officially, Tunisia, like most countries, observes the Gregorian calendar. In Tunisia, the Islamic calendar is known but is mostly used to observe Islamic holidays and to find out, at any given time, what a given day is, based on its calendar.
In Tunisian Arabic, the calendars are written as:
Gregorian calendar: El ta9wim el miledi / التقويم الميلادي
Islamic calendar: El ta9wim el hejri / التقويم الهجري
In Fos7a, the word “Calendar” is Ta9wim / تقويم. The word Hejri / هجري is based on Hejra / هجرة, which means “immigration”. This refers to the historical migration of Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to El Medina. The suffix -i / ي in Hejri / هجري makes the word an adjective.
Because Tunisia observes the Gregorian calendar for day-to-day affairs, conventionally, the BC/AD model is used. (Which includes students being educated on the BC/AD model in school)
AD (or Current Era (CE)) in Tounsi is Miledi / ميلادي. Miledi comes from the Arabic word miled / ميلاد which means Birth. Again, the -i / ي makes the word an adjective. Consistent with the Gregorian calendar, this is reference to the Birth of Jesus Christ.
BC (or Before Current Era (BCE)) in Tounsi is 9abel el miled / قبل الميلاد.
9abel means “before”. So essentially this phrase refers to “Before the Birth of Jesus Christ”.
And as noted above, the year system, and the terminology, Miledi / 9abel el miled, are conventionally taught in the Tunisian school system.
Below IBL Contributor Amine B. pronounces 3am & A3wem:
Below, IBL Contributor, Aroua F. pronounces 9abel el miled & Miledi.
9abel el miled:
Miledi:
Which number system
Tunisia uses the same number system that most Indo-European speaking countries use: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. (A note that not all Arabic speaking Mediterranean countries do—e.g., Egypt still uses the Arabic number system)
As such, the way years are written in Tunisia Arabic is the same way that one in an English-speaking country would write them. But of course, the numbers as words, when spoken or written, will vary based on the language. (English, French, Arabic, etc.)
Writing and speaking years
In Tunisian Arabic, the way years are written and spoken are identical to how they are presented as numbers, with the optional addition of these elements or considerations.
- Year — If one wishes to express Year after a number, they will add 3am to it.
- BC (BCE) / AD (CE) — If one wishes to clarify if they are referring to BCE or CE they say 9abel el miled or Miledi, respectively, after the year is spoken. (as noted above) (examples provided below)
- The 20th century — If someone is referring to a year in the 20th century (Currently, usually 1930 and after), the 19– isn’t necessary. So if someone is referencing 1982, they may just speak Thnin w thmenin / اثنين وثمانين.
You probably noticed that the above three features are applied the same way in English too.
Compressing terminology doesn’t occur
In English, the years past 99 are compressing when spoken. For example, to express 2023, someone doesn’t say, “Two thousand two hundred and twenty-three”. As you know, what’s spoken is simply, “Twenty twenty three”. In Tunisian Arabic, the concept of compressing years in this way doesn’t exist. Instead, the full year, as a number, is spoken. So, for instance, if someone wants to say 2023, they will write it or speak it fully: Alfin wthletha w3echrin / ألفين وثلاثة وعشرين) (Adding 3am / عام or if someone is referring to 9abel el miled (BC/BCE) or Miledi (AD/CE) at the start of this statement is optional)
Also, there is nothing cognate to the abbreviations BC/BCE and AD/CE in Tunisian Arabic. If someone wants to refer to these periods of time—9abel el miled & Miledi—as noted above, they will write them out or speak these terms fully.
(Curious to learn more about the basics of Tunisian Arabic—How it formed, its similarities and differences to Standard Arabic, how its been influenced, etc.? Access the IBL article—What is Tunisian Arabic?)
IBL Contributor, Nour E. pronounces Alfin wthletha w3echrin:
Here is a list of years so you have the building blocks to construct and speak years in full:
100 — Mye / مية
200 — Mitin / ميتين
500 — Khamsa mye / خمسة مية
1000 — Alf / ألف
1500 — Alf w khamsa mye / ألف و خمسة مية
2000 — Alfin / ألفين
Years in practice
In this section we’ll cover a longer list of years with recordings:
A couple notes to keep in mind when reviewing this material: (These concepts are introduced above)
- The 9abl el miled / Miledi are optional. (They are used in Tounsi very similiarly to how they are used in English—They are used when a speaker or writer wants to ensure their interluctor or audience knows what era they are referring to)
- 3am / [] could be applied to any or all of the years below. Again similar to English—Someone could say or write “495 AD” or they may communicate, for added specificity: “The year 495 AD”.
(Pronunciations by IBL Contributor Aroua F.)
800 BC/BCE — Thmanya mye 9abl el miled / ثمنية مية قبل الميلاد
75 BC/BCE — Khamsa w sab3in 9abl el miled / خمسة و سبعين قبل الميلاد
100 AD/CE — Mye miledi / مية ميلادي
225 AD/CE — Mitin w khamsa w 3echrin miledi / ميتين و خمسة و عشرين ميلادي
495 AD/CE — Arb3a mye w khamsa w tes3in miledi / أربعة مية و خمسة و تسعين
1203 AD/CE — Alf w mitin w tletha / ألف و ميتين و تلاثة
1495 AD/CE — Alf w arb3a mye w khamsa w tes3in miledi / ألف و أربعة مية و خمسة و تسعين ميلادي
(In the years below the CE/AD have been removed to adhere to what may be more commonly communicated, given these years are in modern history)
1775 — Alf w sab3a mye w khamsa w sab3in / ألف و سبعة مية و خمسة و سبعين
1900 — Alf w tes3a mye / ألف و تسعة مية
1950 — Alf w tes3a mye w khamsin / ألف و تسعة مية و خمسين
2000 — Alfin / ألفين
2023 — Alfin w tletha w 3echrin / ألفين و تلاثة و عشرين
2024 — Alfin w arb3a w 3echrin / ألفين و أربعة و عشرين
2025 — Alfin w khamsa w 3echrin / ألفين و خمسة و عشرين
2100 — Alfin w mye / ألفين و مية
In closing
In some ways learn and speaking numbers are easier to learn in Tunisian Arabic than English because they are identical to the number system. But after the year 99, they are in some ways more complicated than English, because in English, the year is compressed (above, the example for 2023 was used—In English, Two thousand twenty-three becomes “Twenty twenty-three”), whereas, in Tounsi, the year any abbreviation is expressed.
From here you may want to access the IBL lists, Tunisian Arabic—Counting to 100 and Tunisian—Time. These two lists total another approximately 160 additional principal translations with recordings and have over 500 accompanying Tunisian Arabic statements. (English translated into Tounsi)
We wish you continued value and discoveries in learning Tunisian Arabic.
And as always, we wish you a marvellous journey!
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