ghenna غنا
Algerian Darja · verb
“ghenna” (غنا) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to sing.
Meanings
- to sing
- to perform a song
Usage
Ghenna is the usual verb for "to sing" in Algeria. In the present one says ighenni (he sings), in the past ghenna (he sang). It takes a direct object: ghenna hadik l'ghnya (he sang that song). The word for song is ghnya or ghenya, and the singer is called mghenni. The verb is used equally for an artist in concert and for someone humming at home. Pitfall: the form written without a shadda (ghna) can be confused with the noun "singing" or with ghna, "wealth". Context decides.
Example
خويا يغنّي في الدوش كل صباح
khouya ighenni fi douche kol sbah
“My brother sings in the shower every morning.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ghenna” but also “ghanna”, “ghena”, “ghna” and “3'enna”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “ghenna” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to sing”; “to sing a song for someone”: ghenna in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “singing, song, sung music”; “to sing (verb ghanna)”: ghna in Tunisian.