Sunday, 13 July 2014

Cheb Mami feat. Zaho - Halili (Arabic/French)


This is a great song for anyone interested in Arabic.  I'd consider it fairly accessible for a Western audience (probably because Zaho is better known for French R&B) and its a great tune to work out to at the gym!


Music is a great way to connect with a language.  You can practice your pronunciation, test your comprehension, and it is easy to pick up and remember vocabulary as music is repetitive in itself, and if we like a song then we want to listen to it again and again.

Arabic has always presented me with problems, though, as a western speaker who is trying to self-teach.  I have, however, picked up one interesting grammar point through looking the Arabic transcript of this song, studying translations, and searching on google.


You can state personal ownership of a noun in Arabic simply by added the letter ي [i:] to the end of it

قلب  (heart) > قلبي (my heart)
حنين (longing, yearning, nostalgia) > حنيني (my longing, my yearning, my nostalgia)

It's a small lesson.  But it's a step in the right direction.  And so gratifying to have seen it myself within the lyrics of a song I enjoy.

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