hedheya هذايا
Tunisian Derja · pronoun
“hedheya” (هذايا) is a pronoun in Tunisian Derja meaning that (emphatic form).
Meanings
- that (emphatic form)
- that's it, that's all
Usage
Hedheya is an emphatic form of the demonstrative hedha ("this"). It works as a standalone pronoun and picks up what has just been said, a bit like "that's..." in English. It is often placed at the start of a sentence: "hedheya 3lech" ("that's why"). Used alone, it closes off a statement and is equivalent to "there you go" or "that's all". The word is very common in speech and belongs to the familiar register. Unlike hedha, hedheya does not precede a noun: you don't say "hedheya ktab". There is a feminine form, hedhiya.
Example
هذايا علاش ما جيتش.
hedheya 3lech ma jitech.
“That's why I didn't come.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hedheya” but also “hedhaya”, “hadhaya” and “hadheya”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.