bent 3amti بنت عمتي
Tunisian Derja · expression
“bent 3amti” (بنت عمتي) is an expression in Tunisian Derja meaning my cousin (paternal aunt's daughter).
Meanings
- my cousin (paternal aunt's daughter)
Usage
Bent 3amti means "the daughter of my 3amma", that is, of my father's sister. Derja distinguishes cousins precisely, where English says only "cousin". Bent 3ammi is the daughter of the paternal uncle. Bent khali is the daughter of the maternal uncle. Bent khalti is the daughter of the maternal aunt. For a male cousin, say wled 3amti. The possessive changes with the person: bent 3amtek, "your cousin", and bent 3amtou, "his cousin". In a familiar register, bent 3ammi is sometimes used loosely for a female relative or a girl from the family.
Example
بنت عمتي جاية تعدّي الصيف عندنا
bent 3amti jeya t3addi essif 3andna
“My cousin is coming to spend the summer with us.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bent 3amti” but also “bint 3amti”, “bent amti” and “bent 3emti”. 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 “bent 3amti” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “my cousin (paternal aunt's daughter)”: bnt 3mti in Moroccan.