stanna ستنى
Tunisian Derja · verb
“stanna” (ستنى) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to wait (for someone, something).
Meanings
- to wait (for someone, something)
- to hope, to expect
Usage
Stanna is the everyday verb for "wait". It is used directly ("stanna 5ouk", wait for your brother) or in the expression "stanna chwaya", wait a bit. In the present tense: nestanna, testanna, yestanna. With men, it takes the sense of "to expect something from someone": "ech testanna menou?", what do you expect from him? In the imperative, stanna (or stanni in the feminine) also serves to politely interrupt someone: "wait, let me finish". A neutral word, used in all registers of spoken language.
Example
هاذا النهار اللي ستنّيناه , على خاطره طوّلت قعدتنا في جربة .
ada Enhar elli stannineh , 3ala 5atrou tawlet 9a3detna fi Djerba .
“This is the day we waited for; it's because of it that our stay in Djerba grew longer.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “stanna” but also “estanna”, “stana” and “istanna”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “stanna” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to wait (imperative: wait)”; “to await something, to hope”: stenna in Algerian.