a5ta اخطى
Tunisian Derja · preposition
“a5ta” (اخطى) is a preposition in Tunisian Derja meaning except, apart from.
Meanings
- except, apart from
- spare, leave out
Usage
A5ta is used mainly to exclude someone or something from a group: "el kol ja a5ta Sami", everyone came except Sami. It originates as a verb form meaning "spare, leave aside." This sense is still alive in the fixed expression "a5ta rasi w odhrob", literally "spare my head and hit." It describes a selfish person who doesn't care as long as he is not affected. With a pronoun, one says "a5tini", leave me alone. The register is informal and common in speech.
Example
الكل جاو اخطى خوك
el kol jew a5ta khouk
“They all came, except your brother.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “a5ta” but also “akhta” and “e5ta”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.