3amali عملي
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“3amali” (عملي) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning practical, handy.
Meanings
- practical, handy
- pragmatic (person)
Usage
The adjective 3amali, feminine 3amaliya, describes a handy object or a pragmatic person: haja 3amaliya means "a handy thing". It belongs to a common to formal register, and many speakers simply say pratique, in the French way. It is also used at school for practical work, el 3amali, as opposed to theory. Spelling pitfall: the same Arabic spelling often corresponds to 3mal-li, "he did to me", very frequent in speech, or to 3amli, "my deed". Context is what tells them apart.
Example
الكرطابة هاذي عملية برشا
el kartaba hedhi 3amaliya barcha
“This bag is very practical.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3amali” but also “amali”, “3amaliya” and “3amaly”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “3amali” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “practical, handy”; “pragmatic (of a person)”: 3amali in Moroccan.