# Persian, Urdu: Naghma



## Manuel Lucero

Hi everybody!
Can anyone please tell me what *"naghma"* means, and in what language?


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## Faylasoof

In Farsi and Urdu, <naghmah> = melody, tune.


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## panjabigator

Faylasoof said:


> In Farsi and Urdu, <naghmah> = melody, tune.



FLS, could you explain this word some more?  Does it have any Quranic significance?  Is it different from <dhun>?

It can also be a girl's name, if I'm not mistake.


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## Schrute Farmer

In Persian it has no meaning. No one in Iran would know what that means.


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## Faylasoof

panjabigator said:


> FLS, could you explain this word some more?  Does it have any Quranic significance?  Is it different from <dhun>?
> 
> It can also be a girl's name, if I'm not mistake.



PG,

It is originally from _*Arabic*_: 

 نَغَّمَ & تَنَغَّمَ  = to hum a tune, sing.

  نَغم (s), أنغام (pl.) = tune, melody, tone, timbre.
نَغمَہ  = tone, musical note, melody etc.

As far as I know it doesn’t occur in the Quran and doesn’t have anything to do with Quranic recitation, which is otherwise called تَرْتِیل _tartiil_.

In _*Urdu *_we use it to mean:

نَغمَہ  =  گانا =  تَرانَہ (music) = قَول (music)= گِیت = راگ = زَمْزَمَہ = آہَنْگ:  melody;  song;  modulation;  trill, a musical sound or tone.

Aryanpur’s dictionary gives the following _*Farsi *__* usage*_:
 
نغمہ = آواز = melody, song, air, tune.
 نَغمَہ پَرداز = singer, musician.
 نَغمَہ سَرا = singer, musician, warbler.
  نَغمَہ سَرائی= singing, warbling.   

_We use the same in Urdu with the same meanings. 
_ 
_Additionally, Urdu uses many more compounds with نَغمَہ naghmah – a huge number in fact!
_ 
… and yes, it can be a girl’s name!


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## BP.

Schrute Farmer said:


> In Persian it has no meaning. No one in Iran would know what that means.


That's a big claim sans reference for someone who is 'learning Persian...', wouldn't you yourself agree sir?


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## panjabigator

From New Persian-English Sulayman Hayyim: here



> نغمه (naghmah) Noun A A melody; a song. Name of a tone in music. ﻿
> 
> -- vol. 2, p. 1095 --
> [Pl. = آواز naghamat]. Syn. نغمات



From Steinglass's Persian-English: here



> نغمة nag̠ẖmat, nag̠ẖma
> 
> A نغمة nag̠ẖmat, nag̠ẖma, A soft, sweet voice; a musical sound or tone; melody, song, modulation, trill, shake; [nag̠ẖmaʼi ʻanqā, Name of a note in music;]--nug̠ẖ- mat, One draught (of water).


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## Masjeen

Schrute Farmer said:


> In Persian it has no meaning. No one in Iran would know what that means.


 
Mere allegations..

see this 

فقه و كلام و فلسفه و عرفان 
مى ريخت *از* فروغ نگاه او 
بشكفته *از* مناره فريادش 
طرح بلند *نغمه* الاهو 
http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache...21/HZ02121.ASP+نغمه+از+باغ&cd=1&hl=ar&ct=clnk​ 
also you can ask uncle google ​


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## Frank06

Schrute Farmer said:


> In Persian it has no meaning. No one in Iran would know what that means.


The word is only one google search away. It took me less time to find the word online than it takes an average typist to type a 50+ character message as, for example, the one quoted above. 

For example here, the disambiguation page for نغمه . The page has links to a famous Afghani singer (whose name "incidentally means melody in Persian", according to the English verson of Wikipedia) and the word for tune/melody, as said before.

Now, we all know how reliable Wikipedia is, so I asked a few persophones about نغمه . Guess what, all of them said they know the word, from 12 year old kids to 70+ year old grandmas. 

I didn't only ask people over here (that would leave the theoretical (or rather magical) possibility that nobody in Iran knows the word. I also took over the phone from my Iranian wife (yeah, she's really zebardast, as they say in Persian!) and bothered her family and friends in Tehran.

Now, there are three possibilities: 
1. it's an enormous coincidence that they all guessed that the non-existing meaning of the non-existing non-Persian word نغمه is 'melody, tune'.
2. the "fact" quoted above is wrong.
3. نغمه is a Persan word.

I go for option 3.


Frank


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## Faylasoof

Here is a little more!

Although نغمه is originally Arabic (post # 5), it has been in use in Persian since the Middle Ages. Almost all Iranians (and a good many non-Iranian persophones) read Hafiz. Here he is with his نغمه _naghmah_:
چہ نسبت است بہ رندی صلاح و تقوی را
سماع وعظ كجا  نغمہ رباب كجا 
     حافظ  شیرازی


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## Masjeen

Faylasoof said:


> Here is a little more!
> 
> Although نغمه is originally Arabic (post # 5), it has been in use in Persian since the Middle Ages. Almost all Iranians (and a good many non-Iranian persophones) read Hafiz. Here he is with his نغمه _naghmah_:
> چہ نسبت است بہ رندی صلاح و تقوی را
> سماع وعظ كجا نغمہ رباب كجا
> حافظ شیرازی


 
I totally agree with you..


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## linguist786

I didn't know Naghma was used as a girls name. I've heard Najma but not Naghma.


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## BP.

linguist786 said:


> I didn't know Naghma was used as a girls name. I've heard Najma but not Naghma.



_naghma _isn't very common as a firstname either, it probably wouldn't be considered very serious as a name, and probably too arty.


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## ricardo12

Nagma is the first tune of a song.


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## Tadatadatada!

I was named "Nighma", not "Naghma", and was said the word means "melodious music/tune of a song". Can someone with an Iranian background confirm that? Please?! Thank you.


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## Alfaaz

Tadatadatada! said:
			
		

> I was named "Nighma", not "Naghma", and was said the word means "melodious music/tune of a song". Can someone with an Iranian background confirm that? Please?! Thank you.


 You've currently listed your native language as Bengali, so could _niGhma_ be just an altered pronunciation? 

For example, the word شبنم - _shabnam _is also commonly used as feminine name and seems* to be pronounced _shobnom _in Bengali. (*Corrections of any mistakes/misconceptions would be appreciated!)
Addition to information in previous posts: Here are relevant entries in the Arabic dictionaries of Arabic Almanac.


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## Sheikh_14

Is there a distinction between naghma and tarannum then? I'm a tad confused in that melody and song are two different things. The difference may be subtle but is definitely there. So when madam Noor Jahan sang "mere naghme tumhaare liye haiN", did she mean her melodies i.e. geet or her songs i.e. gaane? One song comprises of several melodies. In my opinion she meant melodies/tunes rather than songs per se. To me it appears tarannum and naghma are synonyms as are geet, raag, ahaNg and dhun. However, gaanaa and taraana are different. Please do correct if what I have posited is wholly inaccurate.


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## PersoLatin

Sheikh_14 said:


> Is there a distinction between naghma and tarannum then?


As far as I know _naqma/naqmé_ means melody and _tarannom_ means a song (that’s sung)


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## littlepond

linguist786 said:


> I didn't know Naghma was used as a girls name. I've heard Najma but not Naghma.



An Indian actress was given the film name of "Nagma."


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## Jashn

BP. said:


> _naghma _isn't very common as a firstname either, it probably wouldn't be considered very serious as a name, and probably too arty.



I'm not sure if you intended to make this allusion, but there was an Indian actress whose screen name was Nagma and was rather popular. She appeared in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu films.


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## Qureshpor

There was also a Pakistani film actress named Naghma (pronounced NaGhma....نغمہ). So, the word is well known as a female name amongst Muslims in the Subcontinent.


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