dhay3a ضيعة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“dhay3a” (ضيعة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning farm, agricultural holding.
Meanings
- farm, agricultural holding
- state-owned agricultural estate
Usage
Dhay3a means a farm or agricultural holding, generally in the countryside, with land, trees or livestock. One says 3andou dhay3a (he owns a farm) or machi lel dhay3a (he is going to the farm). The word also applies to large public estates, for example the dhay3at domaniales. The register is common and neutral. Note: in standard Arabic, the same word can mean "loss" or "straying," a sense found in some religious or literary texts, but it is not the usage in Tunisian speech.
Example
بابا عندو ضيعة زيتون في صفاقس.
baba 3andou dhay3a zitoun fi Sfax.
“My father has an olive grove in Sfax.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dhay3a” but also “dhi3a”, “dhey3a” and “day3a”. 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.