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Nov 2, 2011

how to say "melody" in Hebrew...


having trouble seeing the print?

לַחַן, מַנְגִּינָה, נְעִימָה



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The sound of music... in Hebrew, there are at least three words referring to this: a more casual word, a literary one and a professional one.


The more casual word is מַנְגִּינָה (mahn-ghee-NAH). For example, הוּא מַקְשִׁיב לְמַנְגִּינָה יָפָה בָּרַדְיֹו - he is listening to a beautiful melody on the radio (hoo mahk-SHEEV leh-mahn-ghee-NAH yah-FAH bah-RAH-dee-oh). This word comes from the verb root for playing music - נ.ג.נ (n.g.n).


The more literary word is נְעִימָה (neh-ee-MAH). This can refer to an actual sound or to the tune of a piece of information. For example, בִּנְעִימָה אֲחֶרֶת, הִיא דִּבְּרָה עַל בֵּית נְעֻרֶיה - on a different note, she spoke about the home of her youth (been-ee-MAH ah-KHEH-ret, hee deeb-RAH ahl BEH-eet neh-oo-REH-hah).







And the more professional term is לַחַן (LAH-khan). This refers to the product of someone spending time and effort creatively composing the melody for a song. Such as those whose songs I play on Wednesdays at noon Israel time on RustyMike Radio.





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