7ab حابب
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“7ab” (حابب) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning wanting, willing to.
Meanings
- wanting, willing to
- fond of
Usage
Ḥābb is the active participle of ḥabb, "to love, to want". In Tunisia it is usually written حاب. The feminine is ḥābba and the plural is ḥābbīn. It is mostly used followed by a verb to express a present intention: ḥābb nemchi, "I want to go". It can also be used on its own: ench ḥābb? means "what do you want?". It is more frequent than the conjugated form yḥebb in direct questions. The spelling حابب, with two b's, is more Egyptian. The meaning "in love with" exists but is less common.
Example
شنوة حاب تاكل اليوم؟
chnowa 7ab takel el youm?
“What do you want to eat today?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7ab” but also “7abb”, “hab”, “7abeb” and “habb”. 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.