3ayet عيط
Algerian Darja · verb
“3ayet” (عيط) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to call (by phone).
Meanings
- to call (by phone)
- to call out to someone
- to shout, yell
Usage
3ayyet (imperfective y3ayyet) is the common verb for "to call": making a phone call ("3aytli ki toussel", call me when you arrive), calling to someone from a distance, or summoning someone (3ayyet lel boulis, he called the police). It takes the preposition l- before the person: 3ayyet l mmak. It can also mean "to shout, raise one's voice" ("ma t3ayyetch 3liya", don't shout at me): with 3la, it is understood as "shout at". The meaning "to cry", attested in the Middle East, does not apply in Algeria.
Example
عيّطلي كي توصل
3aytli ki toussel
“Call me when you arrive.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3ayet” but also “3ayat”, “ayat”, “3eyet” and “3iyet”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “3ayet” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to call (on the phone)”; “to call someone over”: 3iyet in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to call someone”; “to phone”: 3ayet in Tunisian.