mestha9 مستحق
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“mestha9” (مستحق) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning in need of.
Meanings
- in need of
- deserving
Usage
In Tounsi, mestha9 is used mainly to say "to need". It agrees with the subject: mestha9 in the masculine, mesth9a in the feminine, mesth9in in the plural. It is constructed directly with a noun (ena mestha9 flous, "I need money") or with a conjugated verb (mestha9 nor9od, "I need to sleep"). The sense "deserving", inherited from Standard Arabic, also exists, but it belongs to a more formal or ironic register. You hear it, for example, in "ya3tik ma testa7a9". The expression ma nesta7a9ch, "I don't need it", is very common.
Example
أنا مستحقّ شويّة فلوس لآخر الشهر.
ena mestha9 chwaya flous l'ekher ech-chhar.
“I need a bit of money until the end of the month.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mestha9” but also “mesta7a9”, “mestah9”, “msta7a9” and “mesthak”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat; 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.