aswa اسوا
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“aswa” (اسوا) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning worse, the worst.
Meanings
- worse, the worst
Usage
Aswa is both a comparative and a superlative: "worse", "the worst". It belongs to a rather formal register, that of the media, debates and commentary on current events. In everyday conversation, akhyeb is more common, reinforced with "mel": akhyeb mel lowel. Aswa is invariable. It is constructed with "min" for comparison and placed before the noun in the superlative: aswa haja, aswa mithel. In the superlative, no article is needed, unlike English "the worst".
Example
هذي أسوأ حاجة صارتلي العام هذا
hedhi aswa haja sartli el 3am hedha
“This is the worst thing that has happened to me this year.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “aswa” but also “aswa2”, “asswa” and “aswe”. 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.