ya5i ياخي
Algerian Darja · interjection
“ya5i” (ياخي) is an interjection in Algerian Darja meaning come on, what (indignant question).
Meanings
- come on, what (indignant question)
- so, then (question opener)
Usage
Ya5i is placed at the start of a sentence to introduce a question charged with surprise, reproach or irony: "ya5i wesh bik ?" ("come on, what's wrong with you?"). It can also underline an indignant observation. It is no longer felt as "O my brother": it is a fixed particle, used with everyone, men and women. The register is informal, very frequent in speech and in comments. Depending on intonation, it marks a real question or simple rhetorical exasperation.
Example
ياخي واش بيك اليوم؟
ya5i wesh bik lyoum?
“Come on, what's wrong with you today?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ya5i” but also “yakhi”, “yakhou” and “ya5ou”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “ya5i” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “and so, as a result”; “so? is it really…?”: ye5i in Tunisian.