karta كارتة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“karta” (كارتة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning card (access, bank, business).
Meanings
- card (access, bank, business)
- boarding pass, pass
Usage
Karta, borrowed from French "carte", is the everyday word in Tunisia for any kind of card. One says karta bancaire for a bank card, karta d'accès for a badge and karta mta3 tilifoun for a phone top-up card. The word is feminine, as in French, and its usual plural is kartat. For the ID card, people rather say la carte d'identité, or bitaqa in administrative register. The final vowel a is what marks the feminine.
Example
نسيت الكارتة متاعي في الدار
nsit el karta mte3i fel dar
“I forgot my card at home.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “karta” but also “carta” and “kartaa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.