chta7 شطح

Tunisian Derja · verb

“chta7” (شطح) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to dance.

Meanings

1. to dance
2. to jump for joy

Usage

Chta7 (imperfective yochto7) is the everyday verb for "to dance" in Tunisia, whether at a wedding, a party, or at home. The verbal noun chti7 refers to the dance itself: "ya7ki 3al chti7". One says "chta7 mel far7a" for someone jumping for joy, both literally and figuratively. The verb has no other particular nuance and is used in all everyday registers. Do not confuse it with the meaning "to ramble" that it has in Classical Arabic.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chta7” but also “chte7”, “chti7” and “yochto7”. 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.

Type “chta7” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to dance”; “to move about, jump for joy”: chte7 in Moroccan.