wi وي
Algerian Darja · interjection
“wi” (وي) is an interjection in Algerian Darja meaning yes.
Meanings
- yes
- yes (agreeing, adding emphasis)
Usage
Wi is a borrowing of French "oui", fully integrated into Darja and very common in speech and writing, especially in cities and among young people. It is used to answer affirmatively, to agree with what you have just heard, or to keep the conversation going ("wi, w ba3d ?"). It coexists with iyeh and ih, which are more properly dialectal. In online comments, it often opens a sentence of enthusiastic agreement. In writing it is stretched out (wiii) for emphasis. The register is informal and neutral.
Example
وي، نجي معاك غدوة.
wi, nji m3ak ghodwa.
“Yes, I'm coming with you tomorrow.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “wi” but also “oui”, “wii” and “wai”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “wi” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “yes”; “right, okay”: wi in Tunisian.