sta7 سطح
Tunisian Derja · noun
“sta7” (سطح) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning flat roof, roof terrace.
Meanings
- flat roof, roof terrace
- surface
Usage
Sta7 refers to the flat roof of Tunisian houses, the terrace you go up to hang out laundry, dry food supplies or cool off on summer evenings: tla3 lel sta7 (go up to the roof terrace). It is not the sloped, tiled roof. In a more technical or school register, the word also means "surface", for example sta7 el b7ar (the surface of the sea). For a balcony, people usually say balcon or bortal, depending on the region.
Example
أمي نشرت الحوايج في السطح.
ommi nachret el 7wayej fel sta7.
“My mother hung the laundry out on the roof terrace.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “sta7” but also “stah”, “sat7”, “staa7” and “sta7a”. 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.
Type “sta7” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “roof terrace of a house”; “surface (formal register)”: sta7 in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “rooftop terrace”; “roof”: stah in Algerian.