Lyrical poetry (
ghazal
) can be written in classical Arabic—that is, ḥakamī ‘according to the rules
’—or in a literary style, ḥomaynī, influenced by colloquial
Yemeni Arabic
. (The etymology of the word ḥomaynī is unknown.) The absence of declensions in ḥomaynī makes composition and the adaptation of words to music easier. Thus there is a close connection between the literary use of dialect and the development of the musical genre. Yemenis are very proud of this genre because...
