san3a صنعة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“san3a” (صنعة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning manual trade, craft.
Meanings
- manual trade, craft
- skill, knack
Usage
San3a refers to a learned trade, mostly manual, and the skill that goes with it. One says "3andou san3a", he has a trade, or "t3allem san3a", to learn a trade. A common proverb illustrates it: "san3a fel yed amen mel fqar", a trade in your hands protects you from poverty. The word can also mean a talent or a habit that someone takes after another person: "khdhé essan3a 3la bouh", he took after his father. The craftsman is called "sanay3i".
Example
ولدي تعلّم صنعة في النجارة.
weldi t3allem san3a fi ennjara.
“My son learned a trade in carpentry.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “san3a” but also “sana3a”, “sen3a” and “san3e”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “san3a” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “manual trade, skill”; “handicraft”: sen3a in Moroccan.