OrBinah

A Berber Moroccan poem: uẓu n-lwṛḍ (“a rose bush”)

By

Raïs Hmad Amentag (1927 – Nov. 24 2015).

For listening:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDWXk8HnnrE

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English translation by Mohamed Elmedlaoui (Dec. 4 2024)

Introduction

A Berber tashlhiyt poem is composed in the form of a succession of verses on a single metric pattern from beginning to end. The meter of tachelhiyt is of the quantitative type. It is sensitive to the weights of the syllables in terms of Light/Open CV vs. Heavy/Closed CVC (see Jouad 1983; Dell & Elmedlaoui 2002, 2008), with the particularity that in the phonology of Tashlhiyt, consonants can also function as syllable nuclei ‘V’ according to well-studied phonological mechanisms (v. Dell & Elmedlaoui 1985, 2002).

In most narrative or wisdom poems in Berber-tashlhiyt, the first stanzas (here, verses v1 – v13) are lyrical in scope (beauty, adventure, etc.). This constitutes a simple prelude as a pretext for the thematic part (the experience and condition of man, in this poem).

English translation of the full text (PDF)

https://static.blog4ever.com/2006/04/162080/anthologie-poemes-UZU-N-LWRD-Engl.-translation.pdf

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Mohamed Elmedlaoui

https://orbinah.blog4ever.com/m-elmedlaoui-publications-academiques