pancocojams: Arabic language

Showing posts with label Arabic language. Show all posts

Sunday, February 6, 2022

(Somali Singer) Nimco Happy - "Isii Nafta" ("I Love You More Than My Live") 2017 & 2021 videos with comments

RTN Somali TV, June 26, 2017
-snip-
Statistics for this YouTube video as of Feb. 6, 2021 at 10:06 AM ET
total # of views - 4,287,161
total # of likes - 67K
total # of dislikes - This function is no longer active.
total # of comments- 5,821
[All of the comments in this discussion thread that I was able to read were from Sept. 2021 and on. Most of the comments were from Oct. 2021.]
****

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on the Somali song "Isii Nafta" (also known as "I Love You More Than My Life".

This post showcases a 2017 YouTube video of Nimco Happy singing "Isii Narfta" on a Somali television show. This post also showcases a August 2021 YouTube video of Nimco Happy performing that song at a political event. Selected comments from these videos' discussion threads are also included in this pancocojams post.

Clickhttps://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/02/somali-singer-nimco-happy-isii-nafta.htmlfor Part I of this post. That post showcases an official YouTube video of this song that was published by the singer Nimco Happy. That video contains captions of the Somali words with English translations. Those English translations are included in this pancocojams post along with an article excerpt about this song along with one comment that provides some information about Nimco Happy's performance of this song.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the composer of this song and thanks to Nimco Happy for her performance of this song. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

****

Onkod Show, Aug 29, 2021
-snip-
Statistics for this YouTube video as of Feb. 6, 2021 at 8:54 AM ET
total # of views - 11,052,083
total # of likes -315 K
total # of dislikes - This function is no longer active.
total # of comments- 12,725

****
SELECTED DISCUSSION THREAD COMMENTS
From the first video that is given above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXFMtQz2cb8&ab_channel=RTNSomaliTV

Mahad Aidid, Sept. 2021
"SOMALI SONGS TO THE WORLD ❤"

*️*
Moh_dream, Oct. 2021
"After 4 year's become International song somali music to the world 🇸🇴❤"

**
Ifka Noloshu waa Allah., Oct. 2021
"She’s basically telling him she loves him and not to leave her by betrayal. That She wants him lol"

**
Akafi Ali, Oct. 2021
"VIRAL CLASSIC SONG!!! 🇸🇴🇸🇴🇸🇴🇸🇴 so happy for Nimco Happy 💛💛💛"

**
Reply
YEMANY Official, Oct. 2021
"it is you who made her viral💪💪💪💪💪🤩🤩 brave man"

**
Reply
Rushda A, Oct. 2021
"You made it viral Akafi ❤️❤"
-️snip-
Was Akafi the first one to put this song on Tik Tok or other international social media in 2021?

**
maraj. Oct. 2021
"makes me so happy seeing somali songs get recognition 😭😭☝🏽"

**
MUSE FN, Oct. 2021
"Big respect for the Somalis that been listening to this song before tiktok trend"

**
We Love Wariyaasha Somalida, Oct. 2021
"She is now famous more then any fanaan Somali ah,She can have her own show walaahi 💙

i was her Facebook friends more then five years .
I’m happy for her 🙏🙏 Somalia 🇸🇴 Hanoolaato 👋✌"

️
africanpride69, Oct. 2021
"Well now Trevor Noah has made this lady famous. It's such a catchy song too. God Bless Somalians. Love from Cameroon 🇨🇲"

Reply
Aragti, Oct. 2021
"Please give me the link to trevor about this."

Reply
Olga Jilani, Oct. 2021
"I tried to share the link, it was removed. It was posted on his Instagram account"

Reply
Udgoon Official, Oct. 2021
"Cardi B today! 🇸🇴🇸🇴"

Reply
Morash, Oct. 2021
"100 Billion views on Tiktok famous before Trevor shared..."

Reply
Mr steal your Girl, Oct. 2021
"Bella hadid posted before him."

Reply
africanpride69, Nov. 2021
"Listen folks. I don't go to TikTok. I only found out about this lady from Trevor Noah on Instagram. You can look up his page, of that of The Daily Show, and see the video. That's how I heard of the song, and others commenting on the artist and title. Which led me to YouTube."

Hanza Eigal, Oct. 2021
"This song goes viral in Somalia years ago when she first performed on TV. Now it’s going viral on tiktok"

Hi lol, Oct. 2021
"I’m so glad my people are getting recognition from this!"

****
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwPyZgE-FKk

[This is the discussion thread for the second video that is embedded above.]

Numbers are given for referencing purposes only.

1. Bilawal Azam, October 2021

"Respect to her, even though not many of us speak or understand the language she has still managed to amaze us, just a vibe 🤩"

2. Safana Bafana, October 2021

"She is saying I LOVE YOU in 4 language ( Somali, English, Arabic and Sawihili)"

3. Islam Cheraf, November 2021

"The integration of the Somali dialect with Arabic and English is a beautiful masterpiece

Greetings from Algeria 🇩🇿"

4. A. Patriotic, November 2021

"Both Arabic and English are second languages in Somalia 🇸🇴 as being taught as early as 5 years old"

5. Godlive Opoku-Duah, November 2021

"There's some swahili as well. Nakupenda mimi sana means I love u very much in Swahili"

6. Ibtissam Ali, November 2021

"Theres only one scentence in arabic and one in english in the whole song. Besides those and the swahili scentence is the rest just somali"

7. Waryaa Wariiri, November 2021

"@A. Patriotic No, they are not. Somali kids learn Qur'an in Arabic by reading, but not understanding it. Most children and adults in Somalia do not speak English, either."

8. A. Patriotic, November 2021

"@Waryaa Wariiri well as a Somali I assure you that this generation of less than 45 98% speak English although some might speak broken with poor pronunciation

As Arabic I don't know which tuulo are you from but everyone from South and Central of Somalia studies Arabic with full meaning not those suufiyo who learn only Naxwah"

9. Sharmarke Ismail, December 2021

"@A. Patriotic we don't speak English, less than 0.1% speak proper English.

And officially in the constitution of the country Arabic is 2nd language, while Somali is 1st"

10. A. Patriotic, December 2021

"@Sharmarke Ismail over 2 million Somalis and their kids in diaspora speak English and fyi the youth of today speak fluent English I don't know where you grew up"

11. wesley poep, December 2021

"@A. Patriotic I’m Somali - Dutch bc My parents are born in Somalia, but im born and raised in the Netherlands. Only a few of the Somali aunties and uncles I meet speak good English. However I do meet many who can speak Arabic to some degree. I think in Djibouti they’re better at speaking french compared to Somalis with speaking English"

12. A. Patriotic, December 2021

"@wesley poep yes djiboutians speak fluent French compared to Somalis English because in Djibouti before 2000 only French language was the official language unlike Somalia 🇸🇴 where Somali language is the official language followed by Arabic but a good number of people speak fluent English as a high number of Somalis travel abroad for higher education or businesses I was born and raised in Somalia 🇸🇴"

13. Sharmarke Ismail, December 2021

"@A. Patriotic I never went to abroad, and I'm junior student of Water and Enviroment Engineering at one of best university in the country, Amoud.

In the class no more than 5 students can tell you anything they want in English, also medium language of teaching is 20% English, and remaining 80% is Somali based on student ability."

14. A. Patriotic, December 2021

"@Sharmarke Ismail you may have a point there bro but I'm from South especially Jubaland you find many people who speak perfect English and many of them are returnees from refugee camps in Kenya some of them have degrees, masters and they were taught from primary to university in English so you find schools in Kismanyo Gedo Barawe Muqdisho teachers teaching English with correct accent or perfect pronunciation

15. gabar somaliyeed, Janauary 2022

"@𝐀𝐋𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀 🇩🇿 . 0nly 5% of Somali population know how to speak arabic and they're the one who lives in arab countries like kuwait and qatar"

14. Imani, Oct. 2021

"@Brianna White Swahili isn’t spoken in Somalia but Somalis in Kenya know it"

15. Imani, Oct. 2021

"@Brianna White oh okay but ethnic Somalis who know Swahili know it from Kenya as they are native to northeast .. it would still be rare to here pure Swahili in Somalia . Also those dialects r very different from standard Swahili"

16. Ness Paradis, Oct. 2021

"@Imani , do you know how different Swahili sounds between Kenya, Tanzania, and DR Congo? It’s so different, almost like different languages, but Swahili nevertheless."

17. YuhRezkii, Oct. 2021

"@Ness Paradis forgot uganda mate

18. A A. Oct. 2021

"Look how nobody in the audience is bopping to her music yet this is about to blow internationally, do not let the lack of support of your local surroundings stop you from becoming great. It cannot."

19. yas, Oct. 2021

"are you blind? and this song was actually very popular in somalia a few years ago so pls ✋ this is clearly a government thing"

20. M. Tulane, Oct. 2021

"Government people don’t really bop, you can see everybody else be hype why don’t you focus on that? Don’t bring negativity to a love song"

21. ManForAll, Oct. 2021

"This is government party all the people you see no one is civilian except the singer there is no crowd here every somali adore this song"

22. A. Patriotic, Oct. 2021

"The song is back 2017 it's not new in Somalia 🇸🇴 so everyone has memorized"

23. somali safro, Oct. 2021

"It’s a somali thing. They film e audience before it even starts. They just waiting for her to sing. They are using the same camera aswell so u can see it’s been filmed different time frames"

24. FreeBandzz 35, Oct. 2021

"@A A you not Somali so you wouldn’t understand Somali people are naturally like that fr sum vibe like the ones on stage n are fun n the other half are dead silent it’s 50/50"

25. forgetful stranger, Oct. 2021

"Lmaooo y'all have never been to Somali parties, people are more respectful and don't go twerking and stuff. Plus it's a government conference"

26. Freddy Calipari, Oct. 2021

"The soldiers dancing with her didn’t give you a hint? This is a government event lol and this song been popular"

27. olivia gatwiri, December 2021

"This song has become the talk of tik-tok even though we don't know the meaning 😂😂 We love you our Somali brothers and sisters 💕💕"

28. Mai Jennasis, Oct. 2021

"the producer went crazy on the beat too"

29. Chrome Cast, Oct. 2021

"This beat is a common beat in most Somali songs and it’s awesome!!"

30. datguy, Oct. 2021

"@Chrome Cast its similar to ethiopian beats too"

31. geesisawir, Oct. 2021

"welcome to every somali song ever lmaooo"

32. Jo Hip, Oct. 2021

"Let’s be real, the beat is trash. It’s all about the energy in the video. Good vibes"

33. Tosin Hotsauce, Oct. 2021

"@Jo Hip pure trash instrumental honestly it sounds like a song from the 80s/90s 😩."

34. A Y, Oct. 2021

"@Jo Hip don't be ahater it bangs"

35. lina spiro,Oct. 2021

"No he didn’t stop the cap 🧢🤣🤣"

36. Professor Ahmed, Oct. 2021

"@Tosin Hotsauce you think it sounds like 80/90s but rocking people of this world in 2021 and it will go on to 2022.😄😄😄"

37. Professor Ahmed, Oct. 2021

"@Jo Hip make yours and let's see if anyone will dance for it😂"

38. Jo Hip, Oct. 2021

"@Professor Ahmed bore off mate. If this is how low you set the standard of production for Somalian people, no wonder the country is in trouble. Next you will tell me that Mogadishu is a world class city with infrastructure to rival London."

39. Tosin Hotsauce, Oct. 2021

"@Professor Ahmed exactly, people of your own world not my own world. We have surpassed this kind of sound in my own world that’s why we topping charts truth be told. Y’all need to upgrade your sound."

40. Tosin Hotsauce, Oct. 2021

"@Professor Ahmed I’m a Nigerian and we already getting Grammys our music is global, your music can’t go global with this kind of wack production. If this production is top notch to you then your music industry can’t get anywhere. Learn and upgrade."

41. herroherrar Lee, Oct. 2021

"Literally every Somali song"

42. Ina xaaji, Oct. 2021

"@Tosin Hotsauce it's not top notch most somalis didn't know about this song before it got viral it's just catchy"

43. Shirene M, Nov. 2021

"@Jo Hip right, the beat is nothing special... But the vibes are 💯😁"

44. Khaled Said, Nov. 2021

"@Tosin Hotsauce hater . Somail ppl will always live your head and we will be known ppl in earth and stay positive."

45. Tosin Hotsauce, Nov. 2021

"@Khaled Said I’m not hating yh, it’s just constructive criticism. If nobody criticise your work how do you intend to do better?"

46. Handsome 724, Nov. 2021

"Her voice magical"

47. Tosin Hotsauce, Nov. 2021

"@Handsome 724 of course she has a lovely voice no doubt Buh a dope ass producer will upgrade her sound. She’s got the talent, Buh production wise NO NO… that’s just the fact except she just want to be a Somali local champion then it’s fine."

48. Waryaa Wariiri, Oct. 2021

"@Idolsarentsaints She sings 'ana xibak yaa xabiibi' (ana hibak ya habibi), though. Not 'bahibak.'"

49. Idolsarentsaints, Oct. 2021

"@Waryaa Wariiri Well, shes somali so arabic is not her native."

50. Waryaa Wariiri, Oct. 2021

"@Idolsarentsaints True, Arabic is not our mother language, but we PRONOUNCE Arabic words correctly, even better than some native speakers from Northern Africa. That is why many Somali boys win international Quranic recitation competitions easily, beating Arabic-speaking boys. You can Youtube that."

51. Idolsarentsaints, Oct. 2021

" @Waryaa Wariiri And why are you telling me that? Im african arab myself (sudanese) and ive many somali friends that still struggle to pronounce the simplest arabic everyday phrases though they could be fluent in the quran. Reading the Quran =/= fluent speech skills."

52. NO Kay, Oct. 2021

"@Idolsarentsaints he said pronounce not fluent speech"

53. Idolsarentsaints, Oct. 2021

"@NO Kay He also said somali pronounce better than arabs which cant be fully truth, as they're the native speakers. But both of you are dragging this and making it turn into something its not. I merely commented ''yes'' on that question."

54. abbe fokoli, Nov. 2021

"@Waryaa Wariiri Arabic has different dialects; behabik is in Egyptian dialect, which is the most wide spread because Egypt’s cultural dominance in the Arab world."

55. Umulkheyr Mohamud, January 2022

"SOMALİ is a language not a dialect 🤗🇸🇴💖"

56. AHMEDEEQ Nur, January 2022

"@Hawd 🇪🇹ETHIOPIA

Somali is older than arabic

We're the cradle of humanity"

****

This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor commetns are welcome.

Sunday, February 7, 2021

Information about the Hausa Language & An Excerpt From A 1992 pdf entitled "Arabic Loan Words In Hausa"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents information from two online articles about the Hausa language.

This post also showcases an excerpt of a 1992 pdf entitled "Arabic Loan Words In Hausa" by Lawan Danladi Yalwa. This pdf is a chapter in the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)'s Journal of African Studies (Ufahamu).

The content of this post is presented for historical, linguistic, educational and other cultural purposes.* All copyrights remain with their owners,

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Special thanks to Lawan Danladi Yalwa for sharing this information with the world.

****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE HAUSA LANGUAGE
Excerpt #1
From https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hausa-language
written by H. Ekkehard Wolff, University Professor Emeritus, chairman of African Studies, Institute of African Studies, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany…

“Hausa language, the most important indigenous lingua franca in West and Central Africa, spoken as a first or second language by about 40–50 million people. It belongs to the Western branch of the Chadic language superfamily within the Afro-Asiatic language phylum.

The home territories of the Hausa people lie on both sides of the border between Niger, where about one-half of the population speaks Hausa as a first language, and Nigeria, where about one-fifth of the population speaks it as a first language. The Hausa are predominantly Muslim. Their tradition of long-distance commerce and pilgrimages to the Holy Cities of Islam has carried their language to almost all major cities in West, North, Central, and Northeast Africa.”...

**
Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hausa_people
"The Hausa (endonym: Hausawa; also Ausa, Francophonic spelling Haoussa) are a Chadic ethnic group based primarily in the Sahel and sparse savanna areas of southern Niger and northern Nigeria. With a total population of some 30 million (2019 estimate), they qualify as the single most numerous African ethnic group.

[...]

Language

The Hausa language, a member of Afroasiatic family of languages, has more first-language speakers than any other African language. It has an estimated 67 million first-language speakers, and close to 50 million second-language speakers.[61] The main Hausa-speaking area is northern Nigeria and Niger. Hausa is also widely spoken in northern Ghana, Cameroon, Chad, Sudanese Hausa in Sudan and the Ivory Coast as well as among Fulani, Tuareg, Kanuri, Gur, Shuwa Arab, and other Afro-Asiatic speaking groups. There are also large Hausa communities in every major African city in neighbourhoods called zangos or zongos, meaning "caravan camp" in Hausa (denoting the trading post origins of these communities). Most Hausa speakers, regardless of ethnic affiliation, are Muslims; Hausa often serves as a lingua franca among Muslims in non-Hausa areas.

[…]

Hausa is considered one of the world's major languages, and it has widespread use in a number of countries of Africa. Hausa's rich poetry, prose, and musical literature, is increasingly available in print and in audio and video recordings. The study of Hausa provides an informative entry into the culture of Islamic Africa. Throughout Africa, there is a strong connection between Hausa and Islam.

The influence of the Hausa language on the languages of many non-Hausa Muslim peoples in Africa is readily apparent. Likewise, many Hausa cultural practices, including such overt features as dress and food, are shared by other Muslim communities. Because of the dominant position which the Hausa language and culture have long held, the study of Hausa provides crucial background for other areas such as African history, politics (particularly in Nigeria and Niger), gender studies, commerce, and the arts."...

****
JOURNAL EXCERPT: "ARABIC LOAN WORDS IN HAUSA"
from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3jm5n6pw

Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies

title: Arabic Loan Words in Hausa

ISSN

0041-5715

Author

Yalwa, Lawan Danladi

Publication Date

1992

[page 101]

"Introduction

[…]

The history of Hausa shows that the language has been exposed to a lot of external influences which have affected and still affect both the language and the people. Such external influences include Azben, the earliest language to affect Hausa, and Arabic (see Ibrahim 1978 and Liman 1978). It has now reached a stage where most native speakers of
Hausa can hardly differentiate between the native vocabulary of their language and that borrowed from other languages. Arabic influence now has a permanent effect on Hausa in all areas of life, as evidenced in the Hausa language itself as spoken orally and as used in written literature. It is, however, very difficult to explain the moment of the flrst contact between the two languages, since we lack written materials that would show us the trend of such contact. The speakers of Hausa can only guess or speculate by making reference to historical documentation transmitted orally from one generation to another before the massive use of the AJAMI (Hau..sa written in Arabic script) in the post-jihad period of Sheik Usman Ian Fodio (see Bivar er al. 1962; Hiskett 1965, 1969, 1975; Liman 1978; and Ibrahim 1982).

[page 102 UFAHAMU]

Lexical borrowing:

A lot has been written on lexical borrowing from Arabic into Hausa. However, not much has been said about the causes of this borrowing. Apan from Hiskett (1965; 1975) and Zarruk ( 197R), most other works give only partial analyses of this issue. One such imponant work is that of Greenberg (1947). In this paper he claims that the influence of Arabic on Hausa was not directly from classical Arabic, but rather through colloquial Arabic spoken in Nonh Africa, Egypt and some pans of Sudan. He goes on to say that the loans are divided into two phonologically distinct groups. The first group, which he identifies as earlier loans, came through colloquial Arabic. These words consist of terms of everyday life, trade, technology, and elementary aspects of the Islamic religion which mark the period when the Hausa community staned to embrace Islam. As for group two, he claims that they came through classical Arabic and include words denoting personal names of Qur'anic origin and technical terms of pseudo-sciences mos!ly used by Hausa Islamic teachers. His claim is mainly based on the phonological evidence observed from the borrowed words by referring to the original
Arabic words. He claims that the definite article a/- was borrowed from North African dialects as this is a common feature in those dialects. Likewise the changing of 0 > t, El > d, g > d, ~ > s, aw > o: or u:, a > e; palatalization of alveolar consonants before front vowels; and the
dropping of the anicle a/- ("the") were borrowed from Nonh African dialects. These are all features observed in Egyptian, North African and Sudanic dialects. These phonological changes came to Hausa through colloquial dialects and, therefore, must be of words in group I (see ibid. 1947). As for the second group, the words are constantly borrowed with the ankle a/-, denoting the spread of Islam at a later period. He also includes words on horsemanship in this group. Hiskett ( 1965) on the other hand gives a slightly different view concerning determining the history of adopting Arabic words into Hausa and the relative history of their coming, whether from classical or colloquial varieties. He mentions that we should not classify Arabic loans into Hausa only by phonological processes observed, but rather we should also consider the history of the language as well. The question one has to ask is: can one-sided generalizations with respect to group I loanwords be made? That is, can we rely on phonological processes alone as observed in the loans without referring to the history of the people as done by Greenberg? I would certainly say no. We have to refer to the history of the people and their literary background as well.

Furthermore, I would not totally accept the view that all the words in group I (i.e. earlier loans) came through colloquial Arabic. There were some that really came through classical Ardbic, notably from the Qur'an

[YALWA page103]
and Hadith (i.e. Prophet Muhammad's [SAW] Traditions as observed by his companions).

At the historical level, observing some Arabic sources from the Kano Chronicle (see footnote 2) and the writings of the Arab geographers, we see that Islam was in existence in Hausaland earlier than what Greenberg assens (cf. Greenberg 1946; 1947). It existed even before the massive arrival of Arabs into Hausaland (Hiskett 1965 and the introduction of his 197 5 book). Arabs started to come to Hausaland in the 12th century A.D. during the reign of King Nagaji
cfan OariRu (1194-1247 A.D.) where they found a number of people practicing the Islam. Probably, as the history shows, the Mandingoes (or Wangarawa) were the people who first brought the religion to the Hausa people through trade and missionary activities. A great number of them were in Kano during the reign of Yaji Oantsamiya (1349-1385 A.D.), and were then followed by Fulanis of pre-jihad period (Hiskett 1965, Zarruk 1978, and Liman 1978). The Fulanis found the Hausa with the Qur'an and Hadith. This indicates that Islam was there earlier than many historians claim. It was after the Fulanis of the pre-Jihad period that the Arabs started to come to Hausaland in great numbers.

This was during the reign of Muhammad Rumfa (1463-1499 A.D.). Muhammad b. Abdulkarim Al-Maghili (d. 1504; see Gwarzo 1972) is said to have written a treatise on Islamic law for Muhammad Rumfa. Another Arab called Sheik Tunis was also among the advisers of Muhammadu Kisoki (1509-1565 A.D.). A Maghribite, Sheik Abubakar was also an advisor to Muhammadu Zaki (1582-1618 A.D.).2 All of this information indicates that the coming of Islam really pre-dated the coming of the Arabs into Hausaland by at least 100 years.

Therefore, we can say that the small number of the Muslim Hausa community (mostly the Malams or 'Muslim scholars') had the Qur'an before the massive coming of the Arabs. Another fact is also the order given by Yaji ( 1349-1385 A. D.) for the observance of the five daily prayers in Kano. This could not have been possible without a knowledge of the Qur'an and Hadith (see also Liman 1978 for such a view). Can we then establish the fact that not all words of group 1 came from colloquial Arabic? The answer is yes. if we only accept the fact
that the Muslim Hausa community had these two great books before the massive coming of the Arabs into Hausaland. With this, we can straight away dismiss the argument that they borrowed all the Arabic loans from colloquial dialect(s), i.e. a kind of classical Arabic corrupted by the Nonh Africans and Sudanic Arabs (cf. Goener et al. 1966; Muhammad 1968).3 I therefore hold the view that all words in the Qur'an denoting the basic teachings of Islam were transmitted to the Hausa in their classical forms. These include terms of trade, cavalry, and
horsemanship which are found in the Qur'an. They were borrowed into

[page 104 UFAHAMU]

Hausa in their Qur'anic and not in colloquial Arabic forms. If their forms changed, it was due to either direct or indirect innovation by the Hausa themselves in trying to pronounce the words by imitation of the existing patterns either consciously or unconsciously. This might have influenced the adaptation by which the Hausa speakers replaced Arabic sounds by Hausa phonemes that are phonetically closer to the borrowed ones (cf. Salim 1977 for similar adaptation processes with English loanwords and Sani 1986). In this process of earlier borrowings the innovation cannot be a one man's work but rather many people were involved. It is possible that what one person heard cannot be the same as what others might have heard due to physiological differences found among the hearers. This might have caused the differences found in the loans.

Although there are some loan words in group I which got into Hausa through colloquial Arabic, generalizations made by Greenberg on group I loans do not totally hold true.

Sources of Arabic Loans

There are five basic sources from which Hausa borrowed Arabic words:

Islam and Trade

It is to this source that most of the older words can be traced back, since the earlier people who had contact with the Hausa were both missionaries and traders (i.e. Wangarawa Islamic Missionaries; cf. footnote 2). Therefore all words denoting the fundamentals of Islam (including the concept of Belief) and some basic words on trade found in the Qur'an and Hadith were the first to be borrowed. These were immediately followed by words denoting items used for horse-riding and war because of the condition of Hausaland (insecurity for the kings) at that time. The Hausa borrowed these terms from the foreigners who imroduced new techniques of warfare to them.

Literature and Grammar

The second source is literature and grammar of (a) the pre-Jihad period as in the works of Sufis like Wali oan Masani and Wali oan Marina (see Ibrahim 1982; Sa'id 1977) and, (b) the Jihad period ~here most Arabic words were borrowed and used in poetry written in Ajami
writing system (cf. Hiskett 1975; Zarruk 1978). Most of the words borrowed were those denoting praise to Allah (SWT) and Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Islamic theology, warnings/admonitions to

[page YALWA 105]

Muslims about what they do and what the consequences for their activities will be , and words on Islamic law (cf. Bivar et al. 1962 and Zarruk 1978). Some of the borrowed words include the following:

(1) adabii literature darasii lesson

akasii opposite !haalli condition

baitli stanza/ jam'li plural

line of verse

balaagb eloquence 1cal.m.aa word

diiwaanli register lamiiru pronoun

fa.saahaa skill Aiaamaa indication/sign

ilia defect baabli chapter/category

~ sentence balagaa puberty

poem faa'Uii doer of action

aja.Iii fate/deadline hlkaayaa story

ba'aa joke/mockery jinsli gender

d'abii'aa behavior/ kaamll complete

custom

Islamic School System

The third source is the establishment of Qur'anic Schools (i.e. slate-schools) established all over Hausaland. In these schools, malams (teachers) introduced many innovations including the teaching of Arabic consonants. Some of these innovations included the teaching of the
Arabic consonants some of which were given Hausa names as diu = Arabic /a/if/; amlxlaldn woofii = Arabic l'aynl; haakurii (borrowed from Kanuri) = the Arabic rounded /h/, etc. Some of the words borrowed through Islamic schools include:

(2)

Ar: Allah >H: AllAh "God", Ar: Muslim >H: Musulmii "Muslim", Ar: ai-Murnin >H: Muumlnii "Believer," Ar: al-ima:m >H: llimaamli/Hman "Muslim leader," Ar: al- na:'ib >H: naa'lbii "deputy leader," Ar: al-Nabiy >H: Annabli "Prophet," Ar: al- Hadith >H: Hadiisli "Prophetic tradition," Ar: Hajj >H: Hajji "Pilgrimage (to Mecca)," Ar: hala:l > H: halil "lawful", Ar: hara:m >H: haram "unlawful", Ar: Sala:t >H: Sallaa "prayer," ~r: siya:m >H: azumii "Fasting," Ar: al-Qur'an > H:
Alkur'aanli "Quran," Ar: al-zaka:t >H: zakkaa "Alms or religious tithe paid in the form of farm produce, livestock, jewelery, or money." etc.

[page 106 UFAHAMU]

Administration, Law, and Politics

Hausa terms used in administration, law, and politics also constitute a great number of Arabic words borrowed especially during the post-Jihad period. That was the time when the Fulani established an Islamic system of government and reforms over the Hausaland under the leadership of Sheik Usman ibn Fodio. This new system was channeled through sermons and writings using the Ajarni in Hausa, Fulani or Arabic. This is directly connected to the sources of Arabic loan words discussed in the next section. The following are a few of the loanwords on administration, law, and politics:

(3)

Ar: al-'adab >H: ladabii "punishment," Ar: bai'ah >H: bai'aa/mubaaya'aa "pay homage," Ar: baitu al-ma:l >H: baitulmaall "treasury," Ar: daulah >H: daulaa "kingdom," Ar: diyyah > H: diyyaa "ransom/compensation," Ar: ha:kim > H : haakimii "district head," Ar: huku:mah >H: hukuumaa "government," Ar: jamhu:riyyah: >H: jamhuuriyaa "republic," Ar: khara:j > H: haraajii "tax," Ar: majalis >H: majalisaa "council," Ar: mulk > H: mulldi "administration," etc.

Modem Writings:

Modem writings which include both poetry and prose have been used to correct the traditional behavior of a great number of Hausa Muslims (including most of the Hausa kings) of mixing Islamic practices and other traditional religious practices which were in use before the introduction of Islam to Hausaland. Most of the words borrowed through the methods outlined in this section and the one before were adopted somewhat in a fixed form, in the sense that the loans were used just as they were in the source language without radical changes in their phonology or morphology. It seems to me that this was possible due to the fact that the people were aware of the foreign language, hence a correct version of Arabic was used. At the present time some of the older forms (of the pre-Jihad period) are used side by side with the ones corrected by the learned Hausa speakers. Also some of the older forms are being replaced by other loans from English, while some survive only in religious activities. For instance, the word dubuu (one thousand) is sometimes replaced by the Arabic: a/fin counting
years, while in general counting of things like money, the Hausa Zamhar d'a'rii (million) is totally replaced by mj[iyan (million). We also do not find people using the word goomiyaa + number as in goomiyaa

[YALWA page107]

biyu (twenty), but rather they use the loanword ashlFin. There are also instances where the loanwords acquired new meartings that differ from their meanings in the original language with a semantic shift (see Rufa'i 1979). For example, Arabic: maqbaJ (accepted) has two meanings in Hausa. The first mearting is as in the source language, while the second one is "master or observer of people involved in their activities." These examples indicate that language change is gradual and unpredictable. The history of Arabic loan words in Hausa shows that such words got into Hausa at different times. However, we do not know what the form of these words was at the time of their borrowing. An examination of the history of Hausa phonology and morphology will help us to understand how the loan words adapted to Hausa linguistic changes and in that way attempt to reconstruct their original form."...

****
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Saturday, July 25, 2020

Comments From Nigerians And Other Africans In The Discussion Thread For Jidenna's Video "Sufi Woman"

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest update: August 1, 2020

This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series on the 2019 song "Sufi Woman" by Nigerian-American rapper/singer Jidenna.

Part III presents selected comments from Nigerians and other Africans from the discussion thread of Jidenna's official YouTube video of "Sufi Woman".

I've added some explanations from online sources for many of these terms.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/07/nigerian-american-rappersinger-jidenna.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I presents partial lyrics for Jidenna's song "Sufi Woman: and showcases the official YouTube video of that song. Part I also presents selected general comments about that singer/rapper and that song/video from the discussion thread of that video's official YouTube video.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/07/comments-about-sufism-brujas-mysticism.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II presents selected comments about Sufism, and other mystical religious beliefs and practices from the discussion thread of Jidenna's official YouTube video "Sufi Woman". That post also includes examples of comments about the referent "Gypsy".

The content of this post is presented for cultural purposes. All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to Jidenna for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who were associated with this music and this video. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. **** SELECTED COMMENTS FROM NIGERIANS AND OTHER AFRICANS IN THE DISCUSSION THREAD OF JIDENNA'S SONG "SUFI WOMAN" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7_Yg2BHVpU (I categorized these examples by the content of the comment.) Numbers are added for referencing purposes only. Additions and corrections to these explanations are very welcome. 2019

1. King Ino

"Amazing track another big one from Nigerian Americana 🇳🇬🇱🇷🇳🇬🙏🏾😁"

-snip-
The nation abbreviations "NG" = Nigeria; "LR" = Liberia

2. Queen Queen

"I lek am oooo!!!!"

-snip-
"O" is added to the end of Nigerian (and also Ghanaian, if not other West African) sentences to add emphasis, almost like the word "really". Here's an excerpt from https://theculturetrip.com/africa/nigeria/articles/15-nigerian-pidgin-english-phrases-you-need-to-know/ "21 Essential Pidgin Phrases You’ll Need in Nigeria" 22 October 2018

[the entry for "nawa o")
"Nawa oh! (“Wow!”)

This is an expression of surpriseThe ‘oh’ at the end is usually added to a lot of words and phrases, a kind of conversational tick to add emphasis."
-snip-
Also, read "Why Nigerians Overuse 'O'" https://www.legit.ng/534689-why-nigerians-say-o-in-every-conversation.html by Onyinye Muomah, 2016

**
3. lolly Parkside

"issa man..chai"

-snip- "Issa" -"it is a" I wonder if this sentence means is the same as or similar to the colloquial English translation = "What a man!" -snip-

Here's a quote from http://naijalingo.com/words/chai
"Chai!"

Definition
"Usually exclamation, used to express grief, surprise, disappointment and anger, e.t.c see also choi.

Example:
"Chai! Dem don chop our money oooo."

**

4. Chef Strikker
"This guy sabi sing oh 🔥🔥🔥"
-snip-
"Sabi" = Nigerian Pidgin English for "knows [how to]

**
5. Kazo Alhaji"Jiden don turn to Afrobeat singer las las...Big up!!"
-snip-
I think "las las" means something like "at last" in Nigerian Pidgin English.

6. Elykia

"I still don't understand why we ain't having 1M views here ! What are people listening to these days msheww"

-snip-
I've seen "msheww" included in some Nigerian comments on YouTube and elsewhere, but I don't know it's exact meaning, but I think it's the sound that is actually made or which represents "suck teeth" meaning that you are showing your distaste for something or someone.

**

7. DUNCAN KOMEN
"💜 from 254 we stay loyal"
-snip-
"254" is the country international telephone code for Kenya.

**

8. Edozie Jada"Gbedu wey dey burst brain 🧠 🔥🔥🔥"

-snip-
According to http://naijalingo.com/words/gbedu, "gbedu" means "party".
"wey dey" means "why they". I think this comment means something like "Party! Don't spend time intellectualizing about things."

**

9. ZTP ZTP
"MashAllah ❤️🇸🇴"

-snip-

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashallah

"Mashallah (Arabic: مَا شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ‎, mā shāʾ -llāh^u), also spelled mashaAllah or ma sha Allah, is an Arabic phrase that means "what God has willed" and is used to express appreciation, joy, praise, or thankfulness for an event or person that was just mentioned. It is also a common expression used in the Muslim world to wish for God's protection of something or someone from the evil eye."

**
10. Chukwunonso Udeh

"This is a very good Afro beat song."

-snip-
"Afrobeats" is contemporary Nigerian "pop" music and is different than Fela's Afrobeat music.

**

11. Prof Erastosthene
"This dude madly talented, Africa is proud u , Nigeria is proud of u blooda , well done sir🙋"

**
12. Mayembar Brian Andonios

"Lemme first comment before watching.

"This is also gonna be a hit in my hometown, Kamuli, Uganda."

**

13. john magachi
"Love jiddenna coz he never abandones his culture😎😎😎😎

#African boy promoting his culture"

**

14. Osiah Stimah
"Sufiwoman from #255 we light up"
-snip-
"#255 is the country international code for Tanzania.

**

15. Yade N Adamma
"Rwanda beauty 1:27 🙌🏾🇷🇼"

**

16. Ogas on top
"Igbo Kwenu, all my igbos rep"
-snip-From http://www.bookdrum.com/books/things-fall-apart/1657/bookmark/184718.html by brpsaplit "Their phrase “Igbo kwenu” most literally means, “We the Igbo people stand together in agreement and collective will."
-snip-
That author used the outdated referent "Ibo" in this essay.Click for the 2015 pancocojams post entitled "What "Igbo Kwenu!" Means"
-snip-
"Igbos stand up!" is often found in YouTube discussion threads of contemporary Igbo music. That statement means basically the same thing as "Igbo Kwenu".
-snip-

"rep" is the African American originated shortened form of the word "represent".

17. B - Barnation

"This is a flipping banger ..

he must have been wating jeloff rice before making this song"
-snip-
Wating= eating?
-snip-
Here's information about jellof rice from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jollof_rice
"Jollof rice, or jollof (/ˈdʒɒləf/), also known as benachin^[3] in Wolof ('one pot'), is a one-pot rice dish popular in many West African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia, Senegal, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Togo and Mali.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] It is also called 'reddish one-pot dish' and varies in these countries.^[8]"

**

18. Emma Agbo
"You are too much jidenna"
-snip-
Saying that someone or something is "too much" is a criticism in American English, but it appears to be a compliment in some African nations. For instance, South African rapper Sho Madjozi says "It's too much" in her hit track "John Cena".

**19. Million Million
"Dedicated all my habesha girls that go by the name Sofanit!!! 🇪🇷 🇪🇹 💉"

-snip-
"ET" = Ethiopia; "ER" = Eritrea
-snip-
There's a lot of controversy and political debate about the term "Habesha". Dependent on what you read or who you talk to "Habesha" is a referent for all [-or for some- ethnic groups people living in the horn of Africa and the diaspora from those nations who are living outside of the Horn of Africa.

**

20. Olusoji Omosehin

"You woke the gods with your music they are dancing and rejoicing welcome back home all diaspora over the continent... let me see you rep your flag!!!! 🇳🇬"
-snip-
This comment is a call to "sign the register" [add a nation signing in comment.] As of the time I retrieved this comment, there were 210 likes with 18 comments replies. Some of the comments weren't from Africa. For instance, one commenter "Burnetta Hood

"USA by way of 🇳🇬" and commenter Sasheta Mannings wrote that she was from Jamaica. I signed in to this sub-thread in part to ask Sasheta about her last name since my maiden name is "Manning". I asked her if "Manning" was a common Jamaican surname (and I also gave a shout out to Jidenna's song. Btw, Sasheta responded that "Manning" wasn't a common Jamaica surname". There were at least two other Caribbean commenters who signed in. One signed in from Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica like this:

Asha Bailey Couture

"🇹🇹🇺🇸🇯🇲"**

21. Lucille Sambo
"I love the naija vines there...cool track🌼💕💕💕"
-snip-
"Naija" is a contemporary colloquial referent for "Nigeria".
The words "vines" (meaning "clothing") and "cool" meaning "fresh, hip, etc are words from African American culture."

**

22. Kareem Mobarek

"Coming from the north of africa with love 🇪🇬🇪🇬"

-snip-
"EG"= abbreviation for "Egypt

23. Bukunmi A
"Came here from kiitana’s video on Instagram!

Nigerians where y’all at?!"Nice song💕💕

**
24. Cmajor Lembede

"Where my SA people at?🚀🚀"
-snip-
"SA"= the nation of South Africa
-snip-
Where my people at?" and [insert nationality or ethnic group] where y'all at? are from African Vernacular English. These questions are written to prompt other commenters to "sign the register" , i.e. add their own "nation signing in" responses.

**

25. Venice ._.
"I love you jidenna abeg!!!!"
-snip-
"Abeg" is Nigerian Pidgin English for "please". I'm not sure why it is used in this sentence unless the writer just wanted to be polite, or maybe she wanted to say more like "Please love me too", but she was too shy to do so.
**

26. Ygor Benjamim

"Fire after fire! This album is a big step forward in his career. Greetings from ANGOLA!"

**

27 Tiffany E
"ayyy Eke gang"

**
REPLY
28. joseph eke

"😎👍"

-snip-

Here's some information about "Eke" from http://icannigeria.net/index.php/27-eke-market-day-and-its-significance-in-igbo-land
In Igbo culture, there are four days in a week; namely, Nkwo, Eke, Afro, and Orie...
"The most sagacious of all these market days is the Eke market day. It is considered significant because it signifies a lot of meaning, of which bad omen, is the most pronounced. It is regarded as the least favoured day in most Igbo communities. Activities are also constricted outside this day as a severance day. For example, it is not wise to organize a marriage proposal on this day. It is also not approving to bury one on Eke market day or attend any festive ceremony for that matter. "

-snip-
People who are born on a particular day are said to have different personalities, like the sun sign astrology profiles in the United States.

Eke market day is regarded as dangerous, as such everyone is expected to be careful on this day. The Eke market day is associated with Eke, the python. Hence, it is called, Eke, pronounced Eke-e. Ibos also refer to the creator as, Eke. The creator. What this means, is that in Igbo land. A word can have different meaning depending on the context of discussion."...

29. Naira Ori
"Yoruba woman here I practice Yoruba and it’s unapologetically! Shout out to all my Africans, gypsys, brujas"

**
REPLY30. ShaiDaArtist

"Ase. So it be."

**
REPLY

31. tpbrowneyes
"Yebo, Zulu..."
-snip-
The English translation of the Zulu word "Yebo" is "yes".

**
REPLY

32. Marieth Kiiza
"Ashé O"

**

33. hantay w.

"asé!💫"

34. Uchenna Fred
"Your Igbo Bro in Germany dey hail.

So Gi Nwe Aka 👍"
-snip-
I don't know what this means in English.

**

35. Jesubiyi Ajisefinni
"Omo this one bad gan. Twuale for u brother from another mother. Hit like if you feel it. Sufi mama!!"
-snip-
"Omo" means child in Yoruba and Edo.
Here's a quote about the meaning of "twale" from n aijalingo.com/words/twale#:~:text=Naijalingo%3A%20twale,good%20that%20someone%20has%20done.
" Twale
Definition

I salute or hail you or well done.
It is used as an expression to cheer someone on or as a form of praise oftentimes regarding something good that someone has done.

Example:

Boy 1: I don hammer o! I got the contract!!!

Boy 2: Twale! Twale! O boy congrats o

TRANSLATION

Boy 1: I'm rich! I got the contract!!!

Boy 2: Well done!!! Salute! Congratulations friend"

36. Promise Nwankwo
"That shaku shaku move by Jidenna at 2:08So cool"
-snip-
"Shaku Shaku" is a contemporary Nigerian dance.

**
REPLY

37. Saviour Adugba

"I didn't catch it the first time 🤣🤣"

**
REPLY38. Tommeh Tochukwu

"2:07"

**

39. FELIX SOMADINA
"Jidenna, I'm so happy knowing that you are proud of your tribe 💪🏿"

-snip-
This comment had 838 likes with 33 comments at the time this comment was retrieved.

**
REPLY
[to a commenter who wrote that he wanted to rep his White tribe or would that be considered racism.]

40. MultiDiceman

@Vedish ThoratThe reason Black people are trying to uplift each other is because we are normally looked down upon due to white skin colonialism. You may be unformalized with it but everywhere in the world there are places where dark skin toned are associated with less favorable features, activity, culture, beauty, intelligence than their lighter skin counterparts.It isn't a way to look down upon anyone else. So by all means rep your tribe, which isn't necessarily your race, it would be more so your ethnicity"

**
REPLY41. Elvis Morris

"He's Igbo from Port Harcourt born to an Igbo father and an European mother"
-snip-
"He" refers to Jidenna.

**

42. BeHappy
"Nigerians where are you at 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬"
-snip-
At the time I retrieved these comments, this had 490 likes and 32 comment replies. Here are some of those comments. Note the different ways some of these comments express "We're here" in Nigerian Pidgin English.

**
REPLY

43. Chibuzo Loud introvert
"Me that is from his home town😃😉"

**
REPLY

44. J Romeo

"Here in Sicily."

**
REPLY

45. Emmanuel Asuquo

"Na we dey here"

**
REPLY46. Alex Aguebor

"BeHappy Naija no dey carry last 🇳🇬🇳🇬"
-snip-
Here's an explanation of the saying "Naija no dey carry last" from a 2009 forum thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=812892

patio11 on Sept 9, 2009 [–]

o boy, Naija no dey carry last

I'm going to go with "We Nigerians are certain of the fact that we will excel in all circumstances."

twism on Sept 9, 2009 [–]

This is correct. Literally, it is "Oh boy, Nigerians never come in last place."

47. BeHappy

"@Alex Aguebor true 🇳🇬"

**
REPLY

48. Augustine O

"Enugu boy 🇳🇬"

**

REPLY 49. Buff Bear

"We dey here💯🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬

50. Miss Way

"We full ground!! 😅😅"
-snip-
According to http://naijalingo.com/words/full-ground, in Nigerian Pidgin English"full ground" means "plenty".

So "we're full ground" means something like "There's a lot of us here".

**
REPLY

51. Adejoke Bakare

"We dey ooo😄"

**REPLY

52. Shy-Nay S.

"Naijas we out here🤙🏾"

53. Ose Emma

"Right here"

****
2020
54. Buggi Vibes
"And Who Noticed the sprinkling of 9ja pigeon English?... Awesome ...

e no go work on me ...

watin u do to me ..

Excellent work ... Jide..nna"
-snip-
"9ja pigeon English" = "Naija [Nigeria] Pidgin English

****
This concludes Part III of this three part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

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