west وسط
Tunisian Derja · noun
“west” (وسط) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning middle, centre.
Meanings
- middle, centre
- in the middle of, amid
- city centre (west el bled)
Usage
West refers to the middle of a space or a period: west ed-dar (the middle of the house), west el 3am (the middle of the year). Followed by a noun, it works as a preposition: "in the middle of". The expression west el bled is the usual way to say "the city centre", widely used for taxis, louages and meeting arrangements. The derived westi ("central, from the middle") describes an object or person placed in the centre. The vowel is short and the word is often reduced to "wsat" or "west" depending on speech rate.
Example
تاكسيس اللي يمشيوا ل وسط ال بلاد وفاوا .
taxis li yemchiw l west l bled wféw .
“The taxis going to the city centre are all gone.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “west” but also “wast”, “wasat”, “wousst” and “westi”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “west” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “middle, center”; “in the middle of, among”: west in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “middle, centre”; “in the middle of, among”: wast in Algerian.