la7dha لحظة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“la7dha” (لحظة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning moment, instant.
Meanings
- moment, instant
- just a moment! (asking to wait)
Usage
La7dha refers to a very short span of time. Used alone, la7dha! asks someone to wait: "just a moment!". It is often heard on the phone and at the counter, or when interrupting someone. It also appears in phrases like fi la7dha ("in a moment") or stanna la7dha ("wait a moment"). The word is understood everywhere, but it sounds a little more formal than the colloquial equivalents stanna chwaya or dé9i9a, which are more frequent in everyday conversation.
Example
استنّى لحظة، توّا نجيك
stanna la7dha, tawa njik
“Wait a moment, I'm coming right now.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “la7dha” but also “lahdha”, “laa7dha” and “la7da”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find لحظة and لحضة and لحظه, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “la7dha” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “moment, instant”; “just a moment!”: la7da in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “moment, instant”: lahda in Algerian.