karta كارطة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“karta” (كارطة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning playing card; card game.
Meanings
- playing card; card game
- bank card, top-up card
Usage
Karta is a well-integrated borrowing from French "carte". The most common meaning is playing cards: nel3bou karta, "let's play cards", a very popular pastime in cafés, notably at the start of the school year or during Ramadan. The word also refers to a bank card, as opposed to cash, or to a phone top-up card, which you scratch to reveal the code. Its plural is kwaret. The word follows Derja grammar: el karta, kartti, "my card".
Example
نلعبو كارطة في القهوة؟
nel3bou karta fel 9ahwa?
“Shall we play cards at the café?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “karta” but also “kartaa”, “carta” and “kar6a”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 6 is emphatic ta (ط).