Streetwise Hebrew

In addition to calling and texting, your smartphone is also a fancy nagan-em-pi-shalosh (נגן אם-פי-3). What's that? Well, without this capability you wouldn't be able to listen to this podcast on the move! Today's episode is all about the root נ.ג.נ, out of which Hebrew words like ניגון, מנגינה, and נגינה are constructed.

Listen to the all-Hebrew version of this episode.

New Words and Expressions:

Niggun, niggunim - Inflection (linguistics), Nigun - ניגון

Paytan - A person who writes/sings a piyyut - פייטן

Mangina - Melody, tune - מנגינה

Manginat he-halil - The melody of the flute - מנגינת החליל

Negina - Playing music - נגינה

Shi’ur negina be-psantar, Shi’ur psanter - Piano lesson - שיעור נגינה בפסנתר, שיעור פסנתר

Lenagen - To play (music) - לנגן

Az kol mi she-menagen al gitara - So anyone who plays guitar - אז כל מי שמנגן על גיטרה

Afilu im hu menagen lo harbe zman - Even if he plays not for a long time - אפילו אם הוא מנגן לא הרבה זמן

Ze shir (she)dei pashut lenagen (oto) - It’s a song that is pretty easy to play - זה שיר שדי פשוט לנגן

Dudu Tassa melemed eich lenagen et ha-shir - Dudu Tassa teaches how to play the song - דודו טסה מלמד איך לנגן את השיר

Menugan - Being played (music) - מנוגן

Ha-shir ha-ze menugan be-gitara - This song is played on guitar - השיר הזה מנוגן בגיטרה

Nagan - Player - נגן

Nagan gitara - Guitar player - נגן גיטרה

Nagan MP3 - MP3 player - נגן אם-פי-3

Ata yachol lasim et X / At yechola lasim et X - Could you put on X? - אתה יכול לשים את ‘שם השיר’? את יכולה לשים את ‘שם השיר’?

Hangana - Intonation - הנגנה, אינטונציה

Playlist and Clips:

Nehama Hendel - Nigunim (lyrics)

Rabbi Haim Louk - Nigunim (lyrics)

Hava Alberstein - Od Hozer Ha-nigun (lyrics)

Barry Saharoff - Od Hozer Ha-nigun (lyrics)

Shlomo Bar & Ha-brera Ha-tiv’it - Od Hozer Ha-nigun (lyrics)

Dudu Tassa teaches how to play his song, Ha-gole

Sexta - Ani Osa Li Manginot (lyrics)