chti7 شطيح
Tunisian Derja · noun
“chti7” (شطيح) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning dancing, the act of dancing.
Meanings
- dancing, the act of dancing
Usage
Chtih means dancing, especially in a festive context: a wedding, a party or a hafla. It appears very often in the fixed expression chtih w rdih, which evokes partying, dancing and a lively atmosphere, sometimes with an ironic nuance for someone who only thinks about having fun. The corresponding verb is chtah, yochtah (to dance). The register is informal and common. For dance as an art or discipline, raqs is used instead, which belongs to a more formal register.
Example
العرس كان فيه برشا شطيح
el 3ers ken fih barcha chti7
“There was a lot of dancing at the wedding.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “chti7” but also “chtih”, “shti7” and “chte7”. 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 “chti7” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “dancing, the act of dancing”; “festive dancing atmosphere”: chti7 in Moroccan.