mta متا
Tunisian Derja · preposition
“mta” (متا) is a preposition in Tunisian Derja meaning of (belonging), short form of mta3.
Meanings
- of (belonging), short form of mta3
Usage
Mta is a reduced form of mta3, the most widely used possessive preposition in derja. It corresponds to English "of" or the possessive 's: el karhba mta bouya, "my father's car". It is found mainly in informal writing, where the final 3 drops, and in some fast pronunciations. With a pronoun, the full form returns: mte3i, "mine", mte3ek, "yours". The pitfall is that in writing, mta is sometimes just a typo for ma, the negation. Context is then needed to identify the meaning.
Example
هذا الكتاب متا خويا.
hedha lktab mta khouya.
“This book is my brother's.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mta” but also “mtaa”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.