elli yji اللي يجي
Tunisian Derja · expression
“elli yji” (اللي يجي) is an expression in Tunisian Derja meaning next, coming.
Meanings
- next, coming
- whoever comes
Usage
Elli yji consists of the relative elli, "who", and the verb yji, "he comes". Placed after a masculine noun of time, it means "next": "el 3am elli yji", "next year"; "el jem3a elli tji", "next week". The verb agrees with the noun: tji in the feminine. Used alone, it means "the one who comes" or "whoever comes": "elli yji mar7ba bih", "whoever comes is welcome". Pitfall: English places "next" before the noun, while Tunisian always places elli yji after it.
Example
العام اللي يجي نمشي لفرنسا.
el 3am elli yji nemchi l fransa.
“Next year, I'm going to France.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “elli yji” but also “eli yji”, “illi yji” and “li yji”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.