ya يا
Tunisian Derja · particle
“ya” (يا) is a particle in Tunisian Derja meaning O (vocative particle).
Meanings
- O (vocative particle)
- either… or…
- how (in exclamations)
Usage
Ya is the vocative particle. It goes before the name of the person being addressed: "ya Sami", "ya rabbi", "ya ommi". It is usually left untranslated, or rendered as "O" in a formal register. It appears in many exclamations: "ya 7asra" (what a pity, or those were the good times), "ya kh0uya" (my brother). Repeated, it means "either… or…": "ya tji ya ma tjich" (either you come or you don't). In online writing it is also spelled "ye", which reflects the local pronunciation.
Example
امين يا ربّ
Amine ya rab
“Amen, O Lord.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ya” but also “ye” and “yaa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “ya” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “vocative particle”; “either… or”: ya in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “vocative particle (O, hey)”; “either... or”: ya in Algerian.