7ay حيّ
Moroccan Darija · adjective
“7ay” (حيّ) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning alive, living.
Meanings
- alive, living
- district (in official names)
Usage
7ay, feminine 7ayya, plural 7yin, means "alive, living". It is used for people and animals alike, often with baqi or mazal ("still"): baqi 7ay. The opposite is mayyet, "dead". The same word, as a noun, refers to a district in official names, for example 7ay mo7ammadi in Casablanca. In conversation, 7ouma is preferred for this. A food that is 7ay is raw or fresh, for example lmakla 7ayya. Context tells the adjective from the noun.
Example
هاد دجاج باقي حي
had djaj ba9i 7ey
“This chicken is still alive.”
Forms
| feminine | 7eyya |
|---|---|
| plural | 7eyyin |
| feminine plural | 7eyyat |
Forms as recorded in DODa, in its spelling.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7ay” but also “7ey”, “7y”, “7ayy”, “hay” and “7yy”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “7ay” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “alive, living”; “neighborhood, housing estate”: hay in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “alive, living”; “neighborhood, district”: 7ay in Tunisian.