asas اساس
Tunisian Derja · noun
“asas” (اساس) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning basis, foundation.
Meanings
- basis, foundation
- supposedly, under the pretext that (3la asas)
Usage
Asas means the basis or foundation of something, literally and figuratively: el asas = the essential thing, what matters. The most frequent construction in speech is 3la asas. Depending on context, it means "on the basis of" or, very often, "supposedly", "as if", with a nuance of irony or doubt: 3la asas mridh, "supposedly sick". An English speaker may take this phrase literally and miss the skeptical undertone. The register is everyday. The word comes from literary Arabic, but it is fully integrated into derja.
Example
عملها على أساس ما يعرفش
3malha 3la asas ma ya3refch
“He did it acting as if he didn't know.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “asas” but also “assas”, “asess”, “2sas” and “asés”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop.
Type “asas” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “basis, foundation”; “supposedly, on the grounds that”: asas in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “basis, foundation”; “supposedly, as if (3la asas)”: asas in Algerian.