خي
North Levantine Arabic edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From a diminutive of Arabic أَخ (ʔaḵ). Compare also بي (bayy, “father”) vis-à-vis Arabic أَب (ʔab).
Noun edit
خي • (ḵayy) m (plural إخوة (ʔiḵwe) or إخوات (ʔiḵwāt), feminine إخت (ʔiḵt))
Usage notes edit
- Curiously, خيات (ḵayyāt) is only a valid plural of إخت (ʔiḵt, “sister”), even though the rhyming word بي (bayy, “father”) takes the plural بيات (bayyāt).
Etymology 2 edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Interjection edit
خي • (ḵayy)
- relief! (expressing pleasure with a sudden absence of stress or noise)
- 2005, Stavro Jabra, التمثيل الناقص [The missing representative][1], Lebanon, archived from the original on 2019-11-11:
- خَيّْ... خلصنا من أَول جنرال...
- ḵayy... ḵluṣna min ʾawwal jinirāl...
- Thank goodness... we've gotten rid of the first general...