Comments on Arabic Song Lyrics and Translation: City Band – I Am Hereسيتي باند - أنا موجودAna Mawg...

hey federico, i did not pick up on the color schem...

2012-02-22T15:20:29.979-05:00

hey federico, i did not pick up on the color scheme. great observation

baltagis are basically thugs in plain clothes so what we see in the video is just i think to show their sinister/evil nature. here the baltagi comes to represent the spirit of the repressive state.

I think you can hear it better on 5:10. The singer...

2012-02-22T13:34:10.683-05:00

I think you can hear it better on 5:10. The singer actually says /bassə ma tinsūsh/. The ultra-short vowel schwa /ə/ is inserted here in accordance with the phonotactic rule that states that in EA no more than two consonants may follow each other or else a schwa sound should be inserted after them. After the schwa one may hear a nasal sound resembling an /n/. This is probably due to the fact that the singer does not completely close his lips together, which yields an /n/ rather than an /m/.

Of course, you can also google ما تنسوش and confirm that there is no other possible alternative.

I hope someone will comment on the provocative visual language employed in the clip. For example, you may notice that paint was used in three main colors - white, black and red - which are the colors of the flag of Egypt.

I also wonder if a real-life baltagi would have that sinister skinhead-like aspect... perhaps someone out there has ever met one?

Best wishes, Federico

thanks federico, great corrections. i actually don...

2012-02-22T10:41:03.820-05:00

thanks federico, great corrections. i actually don't know what's going on the last line, is he saying "ma?" It would make sense but I don't hear it

Hello Chris! I am a junior student of Classical A...

2012-02-22T04:24:50.931-05:00

Hello Chris!

I am a junior student of Classical Arabic and MSA from Argentina and I have been following your blog for quite a while. For me, it has become an useful way of familiarizing with the various Arabic dialects - and so far the whole experience has been thoroughly enjoyable. I would like to commend you and your supporters and collaborators on your generous commitment to learning of Arabic in its various forms and aspects, and hope you may keep this work up for years to come.

I am quite surprised to find that nobody has written a comment on this outstanding clip as yet.

Now, my present knowledge of Egyptian Arabic is rather thin, but on hearing this song I would like to point out the following corrections:

أنا اسمي شباب **سنه** صغير (instead of سني)

داروا **عيوبكم** كلها فيا (Translated as 'Everybody look at me'. First, what is really heard is عيوبكو. Then, you seem to have translated عيوبكم 'your flaws' as if it were عيونكم 'your eyes'. After a bit of research I found that the verb at the head of the verse is not دار 'to turn, to revolve', but دارى 'to hide, to conceal', which makes the meaning of the sentence clear: 'Conceal all your flaws behind me')

وما حدش يهتف لا ننساك لا انسوني بس **ان** تنسوش (I think this word must be understood as ما. Though certainly the pronuntiation is not very clear, I can't make the sense of ان as a particle of verbal negation)

I hope not to sound too pedantic - I just wish to get my Egyptian right on the mark! Perhaps some real speaker could correct or confirm this?

Anyway, best wishes to all of you and thanks for your wonderful blog,

Federico