يا خيطة, يا ميااطة
Nowadays, this song is sung when girls jump rope or play Chinese jump rope.
يا خيطة, يا ميااطة
Oh, Seamstress, Oh Weaver
Children's Song
Children's Song
(Algerian Arabic)
(English)
يا خيطة, يا ميااطة
شوفي شوفي حزامك طاح
طاح فا امرواح
مرواح سيدي عباس
عباس عنده طفلة
تشطح بالمكحلة
يو يو يو
مشتاقة حلوة
Oh, seamstress, oh weaver,
Look, look, your belt fell,
It fell in the yard,
Mr. Abas' yard.
Mr Abas has a child
She dances with a shotgun*.
Yu, yu, yu,
She doesn't have sweets.
Notes
*The traditional black powder shotgun used in fantasias, a traditional festival with exhibitions of horsemanship among the Maghreb Berbers.
Pronunciation
Ya khiyata ya miyata
choufi choufi ḥzamek Taḥ
Tah fel marwaḥ
marwaḥ sidi 3bas
3bas 3ndou Tefla
techTaḥ bel moukahla
you you you you
mechtaqa l'halwa
a =ah, i= ee, ou =oo, e = eh
kh: as a Spanish "j" or a Scottish "ch" in "loch".
ḥ: a strong "h" (imagine you've swallowed a chili!).
T: dark "t", pronounced by raising the soft palate.
3: an "ah" sound pronounced very deep in the throat.
q: dark "k", pronounced by raising the soft palate.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Thanks to Monique Palomares for the song, the photo and the translation.
