haka هكا
Tunisian Derja · adverb
“haka” (هكا) is an adverb in Tunisian Derja meaning like this, thus.
Meanings
- like this, thus
- right? (mouch haka?)
- about, approximately
Usage
Haka (or hakka) is a very common word for "like this, thus". It appears in 3leh 3malt haka? (why did you do that?) or in haka 5ir (it's better this way). At the end of a sentence, mouch haka? asks for confirmation, like "isn't it?" or "right?". After an expression of time or quantity, it marks approximation: nhar ethnin haka (Monday, roughly). At the start of a story, it can also introduce what follows, in the sense of "that is how". The doubling of the k varies from speaker to speaker.
Example
علاه عملوا معها هكّا هههه
3leh 3amlou m3aha haka Hhhh
“Why did they do that to her? Hahaha”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “haka” but also “hakka”, “heka”, “hakke”, “8akka” and “hekke”. 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.