nja نجا
Tunisian Derja · verb
“nja” (نجا) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to escape a danger, to get out.
Meanings
- to escape a danger, to get out
- to survive (an accident, an illness)
- to save, to rescue (form najja)
Usage
Nja means to escape a danger or get out of it alive. It is built with men (or mel before the article): nja mel mout, "he escaped death". The subject is the person who is saved. The proverb "elli khaf nja", "the one who was afraid made it out", praises caution. The doubled-consonant form najja is transitive and means "to save". It is heard mostly in invocations like rabbi najjah, "God saved him". In writing, the two forms are often merged under the same Arabic spelling. Only context tells whether it means to escape or to save.
Example
الحمد لله نجا من الكسيدة
el7amdoulillah nja mel kasida
“Thank God, he made it out of the accident unharmed.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “nja” but also “naja”, “nje”, “najja” and “nejja”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “nja” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to escape (a danger)”; “to survive”: nja in Moroccan.