"A Vava Inouva" is the title of the debut single of Idir

Idir

Hamid Cheriet better known by his stage name Idir is an Algerian musician of Berber origin.- Biography :...

, the Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

n singer of Kabyle

Kabyle language

Kabyle or Kabylian is a Berber language spoken by the Kabyle people north and northeast of Algeria. Estimates about the number of speakers range from 5 million to about 7 million speakers worldwide, the majority in Algeria.-Classification:The classification of Kabyle is Afro-Asiatic, Berber and...

 music. It is found on the 1976 Idir album of the same name

A Vava Inouva (album)

A Vava Inouva is the successful 1976 debut album by Idir, the Algerian singer of Kabyle music. It contains the big international hit of the same title "A Vava Inouva", also his debut single...

, also his debut studio album.

"A Vava Inouva" is a lullaby

Lullaby

A lullaby is a soothing song, usually sung to young children before they go to sleep, with the intention of speeding that process. As a result they are often simple and repetitive. Lullabies can be found in every culture and since the ancient period....

 composed by Idir and Ben Mohamed (real name Mohamed Benhamadouche) and was written for Nouara, a singer on "Radio Algiers". However upon non acceptance by the latter, Idir decided to interpret the song himself accompanied by the singer Mila.

The lullaby song was an immediate success, making it arguably the best known song in the Kabyle language

Kabyle language

Kabyle or Kabylian is a Berber language spoken by the Kabyle people north and northeast of Algeria. Estimates about the number of speakers range from 5 million to about 7 million speakers worldwide, the majority in Algeria.-Classification:The classification of Kabyle is Afro-Asiatic, Berber and...

 internationally and a great commercial success.

Idir recorded a second version in 1999 with Karen Matheson

Karen Matheson

Karen Matheson OBE is a Scottish folk singer, who frequently sings in Scottish Gaelic. She is lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Heritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang lead vocals, either alone or jointly with Elaine Morgan...

, a singer with a great repertoire of Gaelic songs. The new duo version appears in Idir's album Identités.

Lyrics

(in transliterated version)

Ttxil-k lli-yi-n tabburt, a baba-inu ba

Ččenčen tizebgatin-im, a yelli Γriba

Ugadeɣ lweḥc n lɣaba, a baba-inu ba

Ugadeɣ ula d nekkini, a yelli Γriba



Amɣar yettel deg ubernus

Di tesga la yeẓẓiẓin

Mmi-s yettḥebbir i lqut

Ussan deg uqerrus tezzin



Tislit deffir uzeṭṭa

Tessalay tijebbadin

Arrac zzin-d i temɣart

A sen-tesɣar tiqdimin



Adfel yessu-d tibbura

Tuggi kecmen-tt yeḥlulen

Tajmaɛt tettargu tafsut

Aggur d yetran ḥeǧben



Ma d aqejmur n tasaft

Idegger akin idenyen

Mlalen-d akk at wexxam

I tmacahut ad slen

Versions

"A Vava Inouva" has been translated into several languages ​​including Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 and others.

David Jisse and Dominique Marge released as a duo the French version "Ouvre-moi vite la porte". Katevas released a Greek version as "An ginotane" (in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

Αν γινότανε) featuring Efi Strati.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uynTZT7ML7c