mat مات
Tunisian Derja · verb
“mat” (مات) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to die, pass away.
Meanings
- to die, pass away
- to die out, fade (figurative)
Usage
Mat is the common verb for "to die". The imperfect is ymout and the imperative is mout. In the past tense, it is conjugated mét, mét(t), métet. It appears in expressions such as mat chhid, "he died a martyr", or mat bel 9ahr, "he died of grief". Figuratively, it applies to feelings: 9albi mét, "my heart is dead". It is also used in exaggerations such as mét bel jou3, "I'm dying of hunger", or mét bel dh7ak, "I'm dying of laughter". To speak of a death respectfully, people say twaffa or rabbi rḥmou instead.
Example
انا قلبي من اكال عام مات
ena 9albi mén akél 3am mét
“Me, my heart has been dead since last year.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mat” but also “met”, “mét” and “maat”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mat” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to die, pass away”; “to die of (laughter, hunger…)”: mat in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to die, pass away”; “(hyperbole) to be dying (of laughter, hunger)”: mat in Algerian.