bent khalti بنت خالتي
Tunisian Derja · expression
“bent khalti” (بنت خالتي) is an expression in Tunisian Derja meaning my cousin (maternal aunt's daughter).
Meanings
- my cousin (maternal aunt's daughter)
Usage
Bent khalti refers specifically to the daughter of the mother's sister (khala). Tunisian distinguishes cousins by family branch, whereas English has a single word: bent 3ammi is the daughter of the paternal uncle, bent 3ammti that of the paternal aunt, bent khali that of the maternal uncle. In the masculine, one says wled khalti. The suffix -i means "my"; one says bent khaltek for "your cousin", bent khaltou for "his cousin". So you need to know which side of the family the cousin comes from to choose the right form.
Example
بنت خالتي تقرا معايا في نفس المعهد.
bent khalti ta9ra m3aya fi nafs el ma3had.
“My cousin (on my mother's side) studies with me at the same school.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “bent khalti” but also “bint khalti”, “bnt khalti”, “bent 5alti” and “bent khalty”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.
Type “bent khalti” 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 (maternal aunt's daughter)”: bnt khalti in Moroccan.