mkan مكان
Tunisian Derja · noun
“mkan” (مكان) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning place, location.
Meanings
- place, location
- spot, position
Usage
Mkan, also pronounced maken, means "place, location". It appears in fi mkan ("somewhere"), mkan e-sokna ("place of residence") or fi mkanou ("in his place"). It belongs to a neutral register, a little more formal than blasa, the borrowing from French "place". Blasa dominates in casual conversation when talking about a seat or a specific spot. Mkan, for its part, prevails in abstract expressions and in official texts. The plural is amaken.
Example
نعرف مكان باهي ناكلو فيه.
na3ref mkan behi naklou fih.
“I know a good place to eat.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mkan” but also “maken”, “makane”, “makan” and “mkane”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “mkan” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “place, location”; “spot, room”: mkan in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “place, location”; “spot, space”: mkan in Algerian.