thelth ثلث
Tunisian Derja · noun
“thelth” (ثلث) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning one third.
Meanings
- one third
Usage
Thelth (or tholth) refers to the third of a whole. It is built directly with the noun that follows: thelth el flous (a third of the money), thelth a3dha el majless (a third of the members of the assembly). It appears in sharing, inheritance, and in legal or political texts. In everyday speech, many people pronounce t instead of th (telt). This word should be distinguished from thletha (three), and from rbo3 (quarter) and noss (half), which follow the same pattern.
Example
كلا ثلث الطرطة وحدو.
kla thelth etorta wa7dou.
“He ate a third of the cake all by himself.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “thelth” but also “tholth”, “telt”, “thulth” and “tolt”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.