ay أي

Moroccan Darija · adjective

“ay” (أي) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning any, whichever.

Meanings

1. any, whichever
2. no, not any

Usage

Ay is placed before an indefinite noun, without an article: ay haja (anything), ay wahd (anyone), ay blassa (anywhere). In a negative sentence, it means "no, not any": ma kliт ay haja, I didn't eat anything. It is more emphatic than chi ("a, some"). Pitfall in writing: the spelling "ay" is also used for the interjection ay or aye ("ouch") and for the form ayeh ("yes"); context tells them apart.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ay” but also “ayi”, “ayy” and “ai”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “ay” on the Arabic keyboard

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “yes”; “well, so (prompting)”: ey in Tunisian.