karta كارطا
Algerian Darja · noun
“karta” (كارطا) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning card (ID, bank, phone).
Meanings
- card (ID, bank, phone)
- playing cards
Usage
Karta is a loanword from French "carte", well integrated into darja. The plural is kartat. The word refers to all kinds of cards: the identity card, the bank card, the phone top-up card, the vehicle registration card. In the expression nel3bou karta, it means the card game. It takes the article and combines with nouns like an Arabic word: el karta ta3i ("my card"). For a geographical map, kharita or the French word is used instead. The word is colloquial and common in all spoken registers.
Example
نسيت الكارطا تاعي فالدار.
nsit el karta ta3i fed dar.
“I forgot my card at home.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “karta” but also “carta”, “karte” and “cartta”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “karta” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “card game (activity)”; “playing card”: karta in Moroccan.