ghtas غطس
Tunisian Derja · verb
“ghtas” (غطس) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to dive, immerse.
Meanings
- to dive, immerse
- to sink into, be covered in
- to vanish, go silent
Usage
Ghtas first means "to dive" into water: ghtas fil b7ar, "he dove into the sea". By extension, it means to sink into a substance or end up covered in it, for example flour, mud or work. In the informal sense, it means "to disappear": ghtas, ma 3adech yetsal, "he has vanished, he no longer calls". The present tense is yoghtos. The causative form ghattas means "to dip, to plunge something", for example bread into sauce. The verb takes fi for the place or substance.
Example
غطس في البحر و طلع بعيد
ghtas fil b7ar w tla3 b3id
“He dove into the sea and came up far away.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ghtas” but also “8tas”, “ghtes”, “ghtass” and “rtas”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.