khat خط
Tunisian Derja · noun
“khat” (خط) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning line, stroke.
Meanings
- line, stroke
- phone line or transport line
- handwriting
Usage
Khatt first means a stroke or a drawn line. It is also used for a bus, train or metro line (el khatt 5), a traffic lane, and a phone line: el khatt machghoul ("the line is busy"). For a phone SIM card, people often say khatt jdid ("a new line"). It also means someone's handwriting: khattou ma yetkrach ("his handwriting is illegible"). The plural is khtout. The register is everyday.
Example
الخط مقصوص، عاود اطلبني بعد
el khatt ma9sous, 3awed otlobni ba3d
“The line is cut off, call me back later.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khat” but also “5at”, “khatt” and “5att”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “khat” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “line, stroke”; “line (transport, telephone)”: khet in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “line, stroke”; “route, transport line”: khat in Algerian.