3cha عشا
Tunisian Derja · noun
“3cha” (عشا) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning dinner, evening meal.
Meanings
- dinner, evening meal
Usage
3cha is the evening meal, in Tunisia often eaten fairly late. It is used with the article: el 3cha. One says 3mel el 3cha or, more often, the verb t3achcha, "to have dinner": t3achchit? ("have you had dinner?"). Inviting someone to dinner is said 3zamtou 3al 3cha. During Ramadan, the meal that breaks the fast is called ftour, not 3cha. Be careful not to confuse it with the evening prayer, salèt el 3cha, which has the same name.
Example
شنوّة عاملين للعشا الليلة؟
chnowa 3amlin lel 3cha ellila?
“What have you made for dinner tonight?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3cha” but also “acha”, “3asha” and “3che”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find عشا and عشى, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “3cha” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “evening meal, dinner”: 3cha in Moroccan.