batata بطاطا
Tunisian Derja · noun
“batata” (بطاطا) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning potato.
Meanings
- potato
- fries (in context)
Usage
Batata is the ordinary word for the potato. It is used as a collective noun: batata for the food and 7abba batata for a single potato. It appears in many dishes, such as mar9et batata (potato stew), batata m7chiya (stuffed potatoes) or ma9rouna b batata. In a sandwich or street food dish, plain batata often means fries; one also specifies batata ma9liya. Sweet potato is called something else.
Example
طيّبت مرقة بطاطا للعشاء.
tayyabt mar9et batata lel 3cha.
“I cooked a potato stew for dinner.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “batata” but also “btata”, “patata”, “batataa” and “bata6a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Its Arabic spelling is not fixed either: you will find بطاطا and بطاطة, all the same word.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 6 is emphatic ta (ط).
Type “batata” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “potato(es)”: btata in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “potato”: batata in Algerian.