lmra لمرا
Algerian Darja · noun
“lmra” (لمرا) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning the woman.
Meanings
- the woman
- the wife
Usage
Lmra is the form of mra, "woman", with the article. The word is used both for any woman (hadik lmra, "that woman") and for a wife: with a possessive, one says mrati, mratek, mratou ("my wife, your wife, his wife"). The plural is nsa. In informal speech, this word may be heard in generalizations about women, sometimes disparaging; it remains neutral in itself. Out of politeness, some prefer to say lfamilia, ddar or oum lwlad to refer to their wife in front of strangers.
Example
لمرا لي قدّام الباب راهي تستنّى فيك
lmra li 9oddam lbab rahi tstenna fik
“The woman in front of the door is waiting for you.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lmra” but also “lemra”, “lmra2” and “elmra”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop.
Type “lmra” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “the woman”; “the wife”: lmra in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “the woman”; “the wife”: lmra in Tunisian.