ja جى
Tunisian Derja · verb
“ja” (جى) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to come, arrive.
Meanings
- to come, arrive
- to have come (time, season)
- to suit, fit
Usage
Ja is the past tense of "to come" in the third person masculine. It also serves as the citation form of the verb, whose present is « yji ». The spelling جى is just a variant of جا. It is used for a person arriving, but also for a moment or season: « ja wa9t ejjni » (the picking time has come). The verb is also used to judge a fit: « ja 3lih » (it suits him). The feminine is jet or jat, the first person jit.
Example
جا خويا من فرنسا البارح
ja khouya men fransa lbere7
“My brother arrived from France yesterday.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ja” but also “jé”, “je”, “jaa” and “jee”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find جى and جا, all the same word.
Type “ja” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
The same word also exists in Algerian Darja, written جا, where it means “to come, to arrive”; “to fit, to suit”: ja in Algerian.