3omda عمدة

Tunisian Derja · noun

“3omda” (عمدة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning local sector chief (omda).

Meanings

1. local sector chief (omda)

Usage

The 3omda is the administration's representative at the most local level, the sector (3imada). He answers to the delegate (mo3tamed) and the governor. He is the person to go to for certain certificates and paperwork, or to report a neighborhood or village problem. The pitfall for an English speaker: translating it as "mayor" is misleading, since the mayor is rayyes el-baladiya. You can say 3omda of such-and-such locality, or go through the 3omda for a certificate. The register is neutral and administrative, but very common.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “3omda” but also “omda”, “3oumda” and “3emda”. 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 “3omda” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “mayor of a big city”: 3omda in Moroccan.