vista فيستا
Algerian Darja · noun
“vista” (فيستا) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning jacket, suit jacket.
Meanings
- jacket, suit jacket
- light coat, bomber-style jacket
- suit jacket
Usage
Vista is a borrowing from French veste, fully integrated into darja and used in all regions. It refers to a suit jacket as well as to a light jacket or coat. The gender is feminine: vista jdida (a new jacket). Possessives are formed with taʿ or directly on the word: vista taʿi, vistti. The usual plural is vistat. The register is neutral and everyday. The pitfall for an English speaker is the look-alike: vista has nothing to do with a view or a panorama. It simply means a jacket.
Example
لبس الفيستا راهو برد برا
lbes la vista rah bred berra
“Put on your jacket, it's cold outside.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “vista” but also “fista” and “vesta”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find فيستا and ڥيستة, all the same word.
Type “vista” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
The same word also exists in Tunisian Derja, written فيستة, where it means “jacket, blazer”; “light coat”: vista in Tunisian.