a7nay احناي
Tunisian Derja · pronoun
“a7nay” (احناي) is a pronoun in Tunisian Derja meaning we, us (emphatic form).
Meanings
- we, us (emphatic form)
Usage
A7nay is a variant of a7na, the personal pronoun "we". It is used mainly as an emphatic form, like "we, we…" or "as for us…" in English. It is found at the start of a sentence to put the subject forward (a7nay n3oumou, "we swim, we do") or after a verb for emphasis (nchoufou a7nay, "we'll see, us"). It belongs to the informal, spoken register; in writing it also appears as a7naya. The verb that follows stays in the first person plural, with the prefix n- and the suffix -ou.
Example
أحناي نمشيو للبحر غدوة
a7nay nemchiw lel b7ar ghodwa
“We're going to the sea tomorrow.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “a7nay” but also “a7naya”, “ahnay”, “e7nay” and “a7nayya”. 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.