weld 3amti ولد عمتي
Tunisian Derja · expression
“weld 3amti” (ولد عمتي) is an expression in Tunisian Derja meaning my paternal aunt's son.
Meanings
- my paternal aunt's son
Usage
Weld 3amti means the son of the father's sister. Derja distinguishes cousins according to the side of the family: weld 3ammi for the son of the paternal uncle, weld 3amti for the son of the paternal aunt, weld 5ali and weld 5alti on the maternal side. The English word "cousin" makes no such distinction. The feminine is bent 3amti. The suffix -i means "my" and changes with the possessor: weld 3amtek (your cousin), weld 3amtou (his cousin), weld 3amtna (our cousin). The plural is wled 3amti.
Example
ولد عمتي يسكن في صفاقس
weld 3amti yeskon fi Sfax
“My cousin (my paternal aunt's son) lives in Sfax.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “weld 3amti” but also “wled 3amti”, “weld 3amty”, “wild 3amti” and “weld amti”. 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 “weld 3amti” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “my cousin (paternal aunt's son)”: wld 3mmti in Moroccan.