Hija) is a form of aggression. It is meant to be heard, or read, by the addressee even when he is spoken about instead of spoken to. The victim has a choice between ignoring it or reacting to it. This reaction may be conciliatory: an apology, the redress of an injustice or a fault. But since the main function of hija) is to humiliate the reaction very often takes the form of a reprisal, whether verbal-which may result in a series of hi.fa) poems-or physical.