Fairuz – I write your name
Today we will both enjoy good music and learn Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Lebanese dialect. We will study the beginning of the song "I write your name darling" (biktub ismak yaa Habiibii) performed by Fairuz.
The song is about a love relationship where the woman gives much more than the man.
I start by writing the original lyrics, with a pronunciation description and English translation. Then we will scrutinize the text. When we come across dialectal words, I will tell you which words they correspond to in standard Arabic.
I write your name, oh my darling, on the old poplar.
u write my name, oh my darling, oh the sand of the road.
Tomorrow, the world will rain on the wounded stories.
Your name will remain, oh my darling, and my name will be deleted.
I write your name
I write your name, oh my darling, on the old poplar.
The verb (bktbub) is dialect and corresponds ('aktubu) in standard Arabic, which means "I write". The basic form of the verb is (kataba).
The Arabic word for "name" is (ism).
To get the meaning "your", for example "your name" in Arabic, you add (ka) at the end of the word if you are addressing a man and (ki) if you are addressing a woman. Therefore, "your name" in standard Arabic is (ismuka).
In dialect, as well as in this song, it is abbreviated to (ismak).
The particle (yaa) is used in when addressing someone.
The word (Habiib) means "darling".
To get the meaning "my" in Arabic, you add a long (ii) at the end of the word. The word (Habiib) means "darling" while (Habiibii) means "my darling".
If we combine this, we get (yaa Habiibii) which can be translated to "oh my darling".
"Oh my darling" may sound a little old-fashioned in English. The shorter version "my darling" is probably a more accurate translation.
The preposition (3alaa) means "on". In the song, they have shortened it to (3a), but we dont?t do that in standard Arabic.
The Arabic word (Hawr) means "poplar", which is a kind of tree.
The adjective (3atiiq) means "old".
The adjective qadiim also means "old". My opinion is that (3atiiq) is nicer than (qadiim). I have heard (qadiim) being used for things that are old in both a good and bad way while I only heard (3atiiq) for things that are old in a positive way.
I can take the opportunity to tell that when it comes to a person who is old, Arabs say neither (3atiiq) nor (qadiim). Instead, they say kabiir which means "big".
Now we are finished analyzing the first line. If we want to rewrite it to standard Arabic, we can write like this:
You write my name
u write my name, oh my darling, oh the sand of the road.
The verb (tktbub) is dialect and corresponds to (taktubu) in standard Arabic, which means "you write". When I have searched for the lyrics, I have also seen the variant (b-tktbub) which has the same meaning. We already know the basic form of the verb: (kataba).
We also know that the Arabic word for "name" is (ism).
We also know that to get the meaning "my", you add a long (ii) at the end of the word. The word (ism) means "name" while (ismii) means "my name".
We also know that (yaa Habiibii) means "oh my darling" but can also be translated to "my darling".
We also know the preposition (3alaa), which means "on" and can be abbreviated to (3a) in dialect.
Now we finally come to two new words. First we have (raml) which means "sand".
Then we have (Tariiq) which means "road".
In the song, these words have been combined to (ramlu T-Taiiq) which means "sand of the road".
If you pay attention when you listen, you will hear that Fairuz does not sing (ramli T-Taiiq) but (ramli T-Tari '). It is quite common for the q-sound to change that way in dialect. An explanation may be that it is more pleasant to pronounce and softer to listen to.
Then we have analyzed the second line. If we want to rewrite it to standard Arabic, we can write like this:
Tomorrow the world will rain
Tomorrow, the world will rain on the wounded stories.
The word (bukra) is dialect and means "tomorrow".
If you click on the eye, you will see that (bukra) is related to different words, for example (mubakkir) which means "early". These related words are not dialects.
If you want to say "tomorrow" in standard Arabic, use the word (ghadan).
The verb (b-tashittii) is dialect and means "it/she rains". The verb is related to the word shitaa' which means "winter". Winter is a season with a lot of rainfall.
You may have noticed that the verbs in dialect often begin with (b). Sometimes the b gives the meaning that it is a habit. Sometimes the b gives a future meaning, which applies here because we know it will happen tomorrow. A more correct translation of (b-tashittii) is therefore be "it/she will rain".
"It/she rains" in standard Arabic is (tumTiru). To get the meaning "it/she will rain", we add the particle sa in the beginning and get (satumTiru). The basic form of the verb is ('amTara).
The word (dunyaa) means "world".
Another word for world is 3aalam, which I hear more often. The word (dunya) I have mainly heard in expressions like (ad-dunya wa-l-'aakhira). That is, this tanglible world and the world that comes after death.
Then comes the preposition (3alaa). We are now well aware of the fact that it means "on" and can be abbreviated to (3a) in dialect.
The Arabic word for "story" is (qiSSa).
If you click on the eye symbol, you will see that the plural form is (qiSaS). The plural form is used in the song. If you click on the audio playback, you will also hear the plural form.
The adjective (mujarraH) means "wounded" or "injured".
The song uses the feminine form (mujarraHa). This is because (qiSaS) is plural. After the plural of things, the adjective should be in the feminine singular.
Now we have analyzed another line and are ready to rewrite it from dialect to standard Arabic. The biggest difference is that (bukra) is replaced by (ghadan) and that (b-tashitti) is replaced by (satumTiru). Instead of (b), I use partikeln sa to give the verb a future meaning.
Your name will remain
Your name will remain, oh my darling, and my name will be deleted.
The verb (yabqaa) means "it/he remains". The basic form of the verb is (baqiya).
As we know, verbs often start with (b) in dialect, and this can have a future meaning. In this example, it is a future meaning is implied. The name engraved in the tree will remain even after the rain.
We know by now that the Arabic word ism means "name. We also know that "your name" is (ismak) in dialect and (ismuka) in standard Arabic.
Then comes a repetition of the phrase (yaa Habiibii) that we are familiar with.
The Arabic word (wa) means "and".
Then comes (ismii). We know that it means "my name" and is a combination of the word ism and (ii).
The verb (yanmaHii) means "it/he is deleted" or "it/he is wiped out". The basic form is (inmaHaa).
Also for this verb, the (b) at the beginning of the dialect version gives a future meaning. We understand this from the context because the name in the sand is erased when it rains.
Now we can rewrite the line to standard Arabic. Notice again that I have replaced (b) with partikeln sa in front of the verb to get a future meaning.
Then we're done. The song has more text but I think this is enough for today. We have already learned a lot. Now we can enjoy and listen to the song.