chahia شاهية

Tunisian Derja · noun

“chahia” (شاهية) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning appetite, desire to eat.

Meanings

1. appetite, desire to eat
2. desire, liking for something

Usage

Chahia first means appetite. It is found above all in the phrase chahia tayba, "enjoy your meal", said to someone who is eating or at the start of a meal. People also say chahiti mahloula, "I have a good appetite" (literally "my appetite is open"), and conversely ma 3andich chahia, "I'm not hungry, nothing appeals to me". By extension, the word expresses a more general desire: ma 3andich chahia nokhrej, "I don't feel like going out". It belongs to the everyday, informal register. The word is feminine, so it takes a feminine adjective, such as tayba or mahloula.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chahia” but also “chehia”, “chahiya”, “chehya” and “shahia”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “chahia” on the Arabic keyboard