ma ما
Tunisian Derja · particle
“ma” (ما) is a particle in Tunisian Derja meaning not (with -ch).
Meanings
- not (with -ch)
- what, as much as (relative)
- how…! (exclamation)
Usage
Ma is used mainly for negation. It wraps around the verb together with the suffix -ch: ma nefhemch ("I don't understand"), ma famma chay ("there is nothing"). The -ch drops when another negative word follows, such as chay or 7ad. Before a second-person verb, it expresses a prohibition: ma temchich ("don't go"). It also works as a relative or a measure in expressions such as men kothr ma ("by dint of"). Finally, it is exclamative in ma a7lah! ("how beautiful it is!"). In arabizi, it is sometimes written simply m.
Example
ما فمّة شي هههه
Ma famma chay hhhh
“There is nothing, haha.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ma” but also “me”, “maa”, “ma2” and “mei”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 2 is hamza (ء), a glottal stop.
Type “ma” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “not (negation)”; “that, -ever (after kif, bla…)”: ma in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “not (negation)”; “what, as much as”: ma in Algerian.