maktba مكتبة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“maktba” (مكتبة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning bookshop and stationery shop.
Meanings
- bookshop and stationery shop
- library (public place)
- bookcase
Usage
In Tunisia, maktba first means the neighbourhood bookshop-stationery shop, where you buy notebooks, pens and supplies, especially at back-to-school time. The word is also used for a public or university library, and for a piece of furniture with shelves. Beware of the false friend for an English speaker: "nemchi lel maktba" most often means "I'm going to the stationery shop", not "to the library". To remove the ambiguity, people sometimes specify maktba 3omoumiya for a public library. The plural is maktbét.
Example
وين أقرب مكتبة؟ نحب نشري كراريس
win a9rab maktba? nheb nechri krares
“Where is the nearest stationery shop? I want to buy notebooks.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “maktba” but also “mektba” and “maktaba”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “maktba” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “bookshop and stationer's”; “library”: mktaba in Moroccan.