m3ammel معمل
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“m3ammel” (معمل) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning intending to, planning to.
Meanings
- intending to, planning to
- factory, workshop
Usage
Read m3ammel, it is the participle of the verb 3ammel (to intend, to plan). It is very common followed by bech: m3ammel bech ya3mel… (he plans to do…, he has arranged to…). It agrees with the subject: m3amla in the feminine, m3amlin in the plural. It also appears in the question chnowa m3ammel? (what have you planned?). The same spelling can also be read ma3mel, "factory" or "workshop", for example ma3mel el ajor (brickworks). In conversation, ouzine is more often used for a factory. Only context distinguishes the two readings.
Example
هو معمّل باش يسافر بعد العيد.
howa m3ammel bech ysefer ba3d el 3id.
“He plans to travel after Eid.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “m3ammel” but also “m3amel”, “ma3mel”, “m3amla” and “maamel”. 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.