marka ماركة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“marka” (ماركة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning brand (commercial).
Meanings
- brand (commercial)
- kind, sort (pejorative)
Usage
Marka is a borrowing adapted from French "marque", in general use in Tunisia. It first means a commercial brand: marka mlee7a, "a good brand", hwayej marka, "designer clothes". By informal extension, it is applied to people with a pejorative value, in the sense of "kind, type": ach men marka hedha ?, "what kind of guy is this?". The usual plural is markat. Of clothes, cars or phones, ma3andouch marka means "no-name, low-end".
Example
شريت سبادري ماركة وغالية برشا.
chrit sbadri marka w ghalia barcha.
“I bought brand-name sneakers, and they're very expensive.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “marka” but also “marqua”, “markaa” and “marca”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.