hiya هي
Algerian Darja · pronoun
“hiya” (هي) is a pronoun in Algerian Darja meaning she.
Meanings
- she
- it is (emphasis)
- (hya) come on, let's go
Usage
Hiya is the third person feminine singular personal pronoun. It refers to a woman or a grammatically feminine noun, including objects or ideas: tomobil, hiya… (the car, it…). Since Darja often omits the verb "to be", hiya also serves as a link for emphasis: hiya li qaletli (it's her who told me). The masculine is houwa, and the plural homa covers both genders. In speech you also hear hia or hya.
Example
هي لي قاتلي نجي
hiya li qatli nji
“She's the one who told me to come.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hiya” but also “hia”, “hya”, “hiyya”, “hi” and “hiye”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find هي and هيا, all the same word.
Type “hiya” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “she”; “she, her (emphatic form)”: hiya in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “she, it (personal pronoun)”; “it is (restating the subject)”: hiya in Tunisian.