5atwa خطوة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“5atwa” (خطوة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning step (when walking).
Meanings
- step (when walking)
- step, move, measure
Usage
5atwa means a step, the movement of the foot when walking: 5atwa b 5atwa (step by step). In the very common figurative sense, the word means a stage or a decision in a project: 5atwa mliha (a good step forward). In constructions with a complement, the ending becomes -et: 5atwet el bébé (the baby's first steps). The plural is 5atwat. It is also heard in fard 5atwa (a single step), to stress the short distance or the fact of moving forward together.
Example
عملنا أول خطوة في المشروع.
3malna awel 5atwa fel machrou3.
“We took the first step in the project.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “5atwa” but also “khatwa”, “5atwet”, “5otwa”, “khatwet” and “khatwe”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find خطوة and خطوه, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “5atwa” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “step (of the foot)”; “step, stage, move”: khotwa in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “step (when walking)”; “step, move, initiative”: khetwa in Algerian.