wati واطي
Algerian Darja · adjective
“wati” (واطي) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning low, not high.
Meanings
- low, not high
- lower part, downstairs
Usage
Wati describes what is low or not high: a wall, a table, a ceiling. The feminine is watya and the plural is watyin. The word is the opposite of 3ali (high). Used as a noun, l'wati refers to the lower part or the lower floor. The corresponding verb, wta, means "to lower, to bend down". The figurative sense of "vile person", found in the reference definition, is given for Tunisia. It is not firmly attested in Algeria and is best not used that way. The register is neutral.
Example
هاد الطابلة واطية بزاف.
had tabla watya bezzaf.
“This table is very low.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “wati” but also “wa6i”, “watya” and “waty”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 6 is emphatic ta (ط).
Type “wati” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “low, not high”; “base, contemptible”: wa6i in Tunisian.