ey اي
Tunisian Derja · interjection
“ey” (اي) is an interjection in Tunisian Derja meaning yes.
Meanings
- yes
- well, so (prompting)
- indeed, yeah
Usage
Ey is the most common way of saying "yes" in Tunisia, in an informal register. People also say "ey na3am", which is more emphatic or more polite. With a rising intonation, "ey ?" means "really?" or "so what?". Ey also works as a prompt in the middle of a story, meaning "well" or "and then". Do not confuse it with "aya", which means "come on". Nor should it be confused with the Standard Arabic relative "eyy" (any), which is written the same way in Arabic script.
Example
إي، نجي معاك
ey, nji m3ak
“Yes, I'm coming with you.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ey” but also “ay”, “ayy”, “aya” and “a4iya”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find اي and ايي, all the same word.
Type “ey” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “any, whichever”; “no, not any”: ay in Moroccan.