ma3na معنى
Tunisian Derja · noun
“ma3na” (معنى) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning meaning, sense.
Meanings
- meaning, sense
- ma3neha: that means
- importance, value
Usage
Ma3na means the meaning of a word, a gesture or a situation. The question chnouwa ma3na… ? is used to ask for an explanation. Also very common is the form ma3neha (literally "its meaning"), which works like "that means" or "so" to draw a conclusion or challenge a line of reasoning: ma3neha ma tjich? (so you're not coming?). You also hear ma3neha or ma3nehech, roughly "granted, fine, but". The plural ma3ani belongs more to a formal register. Sans ma3na means "absurd, pointless".
Example
شنوّة معنى الكلمة هاذي؟
chnouwa ma3na el kelma hedhi?
“What does this word mean?”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ma3na” but also “maana” and “m3na”. 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.
Type “ma3na” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “meaning, sense”; “point, purpose”: ma3na in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “meaning, sense”; “value, importance”: ma3na in Algerian.