hay حي
Algerian Darja · adjective
“hay” (حي) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning alive, living.
Meanings
- alive, living
- neighborhood, housing estate
Usage
Hay means "alive, living". It is often used with mazal: mazal hay (he is still alive). The feminine is hayya and the plural is hyaya or ahya. It appears in religious or affectionate expressions, for example "rak hay fi qlobna" (you live on in our hearts). As a noun, hay also means a neighborhood or housing estate, especially in official names and addresses. In conversation, houma remains the usual word for neighborhood. Do not confuse it with the interjection hay or ay used to call someone's attention.
Example
جدي مازال حي ربي يحفظو
jeddi mazal hay, rabbi yahafdou
“My grandfather is still alive, may God protect him.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hay” but also “7ay”, “hai”, “hayy” and “7ai”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “hay” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “alive, living”; “district (in official names)”: 7ay in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “alive, living”; “neighborhood, district”: 7ay in Tunisian.