ya يا
Moroccan Darija · particle
“ya” (يا) is a particle in Moroccan Darija meaning vocative particle.
Meanings
- vocative particle
- either… or
Usage
Ya is used before a name or a title to address someone: ya rebbi, ya khouya, ya lalla. In everyday speech it very often shortens to a (a lalla, a sidi, a khti), and this is the most natural form when speaking. English has no usual equivalent: it is simply translated by a comma or, in a formal register, by "O". Doubled, ya… ya means "either… or", as in the expression ya reb7a ya deb7a. It also appears in fixed exclamations, for example ya latif.
Example
صباح الخير يا لالة
sbah lkhir a lalla
“Good morning, madam.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ya” but also “yaa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “ya” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “vocative particle (O, hey)”; “either... or”: ya in Algerian.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “O (vocative particle)”; “either… or…”: ya in Tunisian.