7ay حي
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“7ay” (حي) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning alive, living.
Meanings
- alive, living
- neighborhood, district
Usage
7ay means "alive, living". The feminine is 7ayya and the plural 7ayin. It is heard in fixed phrases like kol 3am wenti 7ay bekhir, a festive wish meaning "may you be alive and in good health every year". One also says 7ay yorzo9, "very much alive". Pronounced the same way, the word also means a neighborhood: 7ay ettadhamen, el 7ay mte3na. For a "live" broadcast, mobacher or the French "live" is used instead.
Example
جدّو مازال حي؟
jeddou mazel 7ay?
“Is his grandfather still alive?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7ay” but also “hay”, “7ai”, “7ayy” and “ha4i”. 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.
Type “7ay” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “alive, living”; “district (in official names)”: 7ay in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “alive, living”; “neighborhood, housing estate”: hay in Algerian.