barabi بربي
Tunisian Derja · interjection
“barabi” (بربي) is an interjection in Tunisian Derja meaning please.
Meanings
- please
- I beg you
- really? (surprise)
Usage
Barabbi, literally "by my Lord", is the most common way to say "please". The same word is used whether you address someone informally or formally. It goes at the beginning or the end of a request: barabbi 3aweni (help me, please). Said with insistence, it expresses a plea. With a questioning intonation, barabbi? expresses surprise, like "really?" or "seriously?". The word is neutral and polite, and is used with family as well as with strangers. In writing, it is often shortened to brabi.
Example
برّبي عطيني الملح
barabbi a3tini el mel7
“Pass me the salt, please.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “barabi” but also “brabi”, “barabbi”, “brabbi” and “barbi”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.