khi خي
Tunisian Derja · noun
“khi” (خي) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning my brother (familiar address).
Meanings
- my brother (familiar address)
- dude, mate
Usage
Khi is a short, familiar form of khouya, "my brother". It is used mainly to address someone, whether or not they are family: a friend, a stranger, a shopkeeper. It comes at the start of a sentence or after a first name, often introduced by w or ya: ya Sami w khi, "Sami, my brother". The tone is friendly and sometimes insistent, like "mate" or "dude" in English. It is not used to refer to one's own brother in a descriptive sentence: for that, say khouya. The word is common in speech and in online comments.
Example
يا خي، شبيك ما جيتش البارح؟
ya khi, chbik ma jitech l-bareh?
“Bro, why didn't you come yesterday?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khi” but also “5i” and “5ouya”. 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.