Would you like to learn or practice some basic words for colors in Arabic? In this post I’ll guide you through a very simple children’s song that presents the basic (masculine singular) form of eight different colors, plus words for 16 different basic objects that exemplify these colors. Here is the video:
The most basic color terms in Arabic all follow the same pattern. Observe how each word starts with ’a, followed by two consonants, followed by a, and ending in a third consonant.
أَحْمَر
أَبْيَض
أََسْوَد
’aḥmar
’abyaḍ
’aswad
‘red’
‘white’
‘black’
أَخْضَر
أَصْفَر
أَزْرَق
’akhḍar
’aṣfar
’azraq
‘green’
‘yellow’
‘blue’
Other colors are “nisba adjectives”, that is, adjectives ending in the suffix iyy (informally pronounced ii). Here are the two color terms of this type used in this song, along with the nouns they are derived from:
بُنّ
بُنِّيّ
bunn
bunniyy/bunnii
‘coffee beans’
‘brown’
وَرْد
وَرْدِيّ
ward
wardiyy/wardii
‘roses’
‘pink’
In the song, each color is associated with two objects:
توت
تُفّاح
أَحْمَر
tuut
tuffaaḥ
’aḥmar
‘berries; mulberries’
‘apples’
‘red’
شَجَر
عَشْب
أَخْضَر
shajar
ʕashb
’akhḍar
‘trees’
‘grass’
‘green’
مَوْز
شَمْس
أَصْفَر
mawz
shams
’aṣfar
‘bananas’
‘sun’
‘yellow’
سَماء
بَحْر
أَزْرَق
samaa’
baḥr
’azraq
‘sky’
‘sea’
‘blue’
شوكولا
خَشَب
بُنِّيّ
shukulaa
khashab
bunniyy/bunnii
‘chocolate’
‘wood’
‘brown’
حَلْوى
زَهْر
وَرْدِيّ
ḥalwaa
zahr
wardiyy/wardii
‘candy’
‘flowers’
‘pink’
لَيْل
فَحْم
أَسْوَد
layg
faḥm
’aswad
‘night’
‘coal’
‘black’
ثَلْج
بَيْض
أَبْيَض
thalj
bayḍ
’abyaḍ
‘snow; ice’
‘eggs’
‘white’
You will need just a couple additional words to understand the entire song:
أَلْوان
لَوْن
’alwaan
lawn
‘colors’
‘color’
مَوْجود
mawjuud
‘present (adj.)’
The song begins with just this, over and over:
أَلْوان، أَلْوان، أَلْوان!
’alwaan, ’alwaan, ’alwaan!
‘present (adj.)’
Then the first verse goes like this:
‘Red, red, red!’
’aḥmar, ’aḥmar, ’aḥmar!
أَحْمَر، أَحْمَر، أَحْمَر!
‘I’m present in (the) apples.’
’anaa mawjuud fii t-tuffaaḥ.
أَنا مَوْجود في الْتُّفّاح.
‘I’m present in (the) berries.’
’anaa mawjuud fii t-tuuti.
أَنا مَوْجود في الْتّوتِ.
The remaining verses follow exactly the same pattern, simply substituting a different color and two different objects. Note that to make the text fit the music better, sometimes the genitive ending i is added to the word for the object. We see this in the third line of the first verse, where في التوت ‘in the berries’ is pronounced as fii t-tuuti rather than the more informal fii t-tuut.
Now listen to the whole song a couple of times, following along while reading the list of colors and objects. Then try just watching the video and listening. Can you understand it now?
Thanks! I’m trying to help my 2 year old learn Arabic and he loves the song. He’s only heard it a couple of times and I’ve already caught him singing sections of it. 🙂
Thanks! I’m trying to help my 2 year old learn Arabic and he loves the song. He’s only heard it a couple of times and I’ve already caught him singing sections of it. 🙂
Very funny and helpfull!