daf3a دفعة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“daf3a” (دفعة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning go, time (all at once).
Meanings
- go, time (all at once)
- installment, payment
- class, cohort
Usage
The word daf3a appears mostly in "daf3a we7da", meaning "in one go, all at once". It also means an installment or payment, as in "khallast el karhba 3la tlata daf3at", "I paid for the car in three installments". In school and administrative contexts it refers to a class of students or cohort of recruits, though Tunisians often say "promo" in this sense. To say "once" in the sense of repetition, use "marra" instead.
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “daf3a” but also “dafaa” and “def3a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.