I had told a joke once about Arabic songs and how common certain words are. I have came up with a list of 50 words that you will hear in 80 percent of the songs in some for or another. I know people who study the language are much better at telling those words than natives--we do not notice them. I can tell you in English, Baby, Need, Soul, and Hold are very common words in most pop songs.
It took some person whose native language is Spanish to come up with this delightful list, so here it's
ب - ba, as in "Bahebbak" بحبك which means "I love you"
ت - ta, as in "Tani" تاني which means "another" or "again"
ث - ta or sa, as in "Sawani" ثواني which means "seconds" from the same word as "tani." While this letter in Standard Arabic is a "tha," it has merged with the letters "ta" and "siin" now. For old and common words "ta" is more common, and from new, borrowed, or reborrowed wor.ds "sa" is more likely.
ج - giim, as in "Gameel" جميل which means "beautiful." In Egypt, it is usually pronounced as a "ga" as opposed to the Standard Arabic "ja."
ح - Ha (7a), as in "Habibi" حبيبي which means "my darling." This sound does not exist in English, but it is like a regular Ha in English only "harsher." A friend has described it to me as a "phone sex 'h'"
خ - xa (5a or kha), as in "Khudni" خدني which means "take me." This sound is like kinda the ch in Bach from german, the french 'r' in "quatre" or to an English speaker probably sounds like they are about to spit
د - daal, as in "Dunya" دنيا which can mean "the world," "the prevailing environment" or "everyone."
ذ - daal or zaal, as in "Dayeb" ذائب which means "melting" often in love. Like "tha," "dhaal" loses its standard Arabic pronunciation, becoming a "da" sound for old and common words and a "za" sound for newer, borrowed, or reborrowed words from Standard Arabic.
ر - ra, as in "Rooh" روح which means "soul." It is trilled like the Spanish r.
ز - zay, as in "Zaman" زمن which means "time" as in the 4th dimension
س - sin, as in "Sawa" سوا which means "together"
ش - shiin, as in "Shuf" شوف which means "see," "look," or "look at"
ص - Saad, as in "Sabr" صبر which means "patience." The Saad is like an English s but with more rounding of the lips to produce a deeper hiss.
ض - Daad, as in "Da3" ضاع which means "lost" or "wasted." Daad is like the English d in the same relationship as Saad is to s.
ط - Ta (6a), as in "Tayr" طير which means "bird." Ta is in the same relationship with the English T as Daad is with d
ظ - Da or Za, as in "Zalim" ظالم which means "unjust" or "oppressive." This sound is DHa in Standard Arabic, but either becomes a "Za" sound or a "Da" sound in Egyptian.
ع - Ayn (3ayn), as in "3ayni" عيني which means "my eye" (a very common term of endearment in Arabic). 3ayn has no equivalent in English and I don't know how to describe it. Just read and listen for it. For those who know linguistics, its the voiced version of ح
غ - ghayn, as in "Ghali" غالي which means "precious." It's like a ga sound only it's like you're gargling water.
ف - fa, as in "Farah" فرح which means "joy" or "happiness"
ق - qaff (9aff, 2aff), as in "Qalbi" قلبي which means "my heart." Originally this sound is like an English k only deeper in the throat, as if you were choking, but in Egypt it is usually pronounced as a glottal stop like the sound in between Uh and Oh in Uh-Oh. So "Qalbi" becomes "Albi."
ك - kaff (Chaff), as in "Keef" كيف which means "how" east of Egypt.
ل - laam, as in "Leel" ليل which means "night"
م - miim, as in "Majnun" مجنون which means "mad" or "crazy"
ن - nuun, as in "Nar" نار which means "fire"
ه - ha, as in "Hawa" هوى which is one of the many words for love "hawa"
و - waaw, as in "Waheshtini" وحشتيني which is how you tell a girl "I miss you"
ي - ya, as in "Ya habibi" يا حبيبي which means "oh my darling." To address someone like "oh" or "hey" in English, you say "ya" before the name or title you are calling them.
Moustafa Amar مصطفى قمر- هنحب أيامنا
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