hayat حياة
Algerian Darja · noun
“hayat” (حياة) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning life, existence.
Meanings
- life, existence
- way of life
Usage
Hayat refers to life in the general sense. You hear it in expressions like « hayat mliha » (a good life) or « hayat l'ghorba » (life abroad, as an emigrant). The word is understood everywhere. It has a slightly more formal, media-style flavor. In everyday speech, people often talk about life using dounya (the world, life here below) or l3icha (the fact of living, living conditions). Hayat is also a common female first name. Context tells the two apart.
Example
الحياة في الغربة ماشي ساهلة.
Lhayat fel ghorba machi sahla.
“Life abroad is not easy.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hayat” but also “7ayat”, “hayet”, “7ayet” and “hyat”. 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 “hayat” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “life, existence”; “way of life”: 7ayat in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “life, existence”; “personal affairs, private life”: 7ya in Tunisian.