Happy Xmas (War is over)

I heard this song* (originally, I think, by John Lennon) for the first time today and decided I'd translate it.  (Thanks, Colbert Report!)  It asks a really good question, of course- that being... "what have you done?"

Nothing new in this song, just the same old.  I had to rig the vocative just right to make it work (since it's an extra syllable and the translation below is singable, Oh Joy.)

*Sorry for this video.  It is surprisingly the only one with lyrics I could find that didn't have images of carnage.  ...Sigh.

Order of Texts: Sandic -- Smooth English of Sandic -- Original English

--

**

Ba mohn ân ora 

a kiab péxma

ba ivlú basem

rep juti baahl

ba mohn ân ora

opémas ra

lēé ta zumin, usein

lēé ta lēlain, nabein

mohnab lēaira

ivlúb lēai

wenai obaahl

temab kahami

ba mohn ân ora

lēian paelain, levin

kalēlétin, kahamin,

lenai ara aŵ

ba mohn ân ora

lēian mauin, glénin

lēian éoin, lēian pîrin,

otaŵneot madîjj.

dîjj batesem

ba wîc pé

dîjj batesem

nalēu

--

The day of giving,

but what have you done

the year is ending

it's the beginning of another one

the day of giving

be very happy

you who are here, you who are loved

you who are old, you who are young

A very happy day

a happy (new) year

let it be beautiful

and without fear

the day of giving

to you, the strong and the weak

the having and lacking,

our existence is wrong.

the day of giving

to you, the white and the black (ones),

to you the yellow (ones) and the red (ones),

let us not fight.

War will stop

(according to) your want

war will stop

now

--

So this is Xmas

And what have you done

Another year over

And a new one just begun

And so this is Xmas

I hope you have fun

The near and the dear one

The old and the young

A very Merry Xmas

And a happy New Year

Let's hope it's a good one

Without any fear

And so this is Xmas

For weak and for strong

For rich and the poor ones

The world is so wrong

And so happy Xmas

For black and for white

For yellow and red ones

Let's stop all the fight

War is over, 

if you want it

War is over 

now

** Image from here.

Lēé îbú - O moon

Last night as I was falling asleep, this song popped into my head.  It's yet another one from the CD of chants I had as a kid. Needless to say, I ended up scribbling it out in Sandic.

The picture below is of my actual writing-out of the song as I worked on it (at one in the morning, trying to get it out of my head so I could sleep).  I figured someone might get a kick out of seeing the actual messiness that translations can sometimes produce.

Yes, I write things down in Sandic script.  I've been doing it for so long that it's sometimes easier this way- particularly if I'm sleepy.

As to the formatting of the picture- yes, I know it's horrible and could do with some cropping.  I can't for the life of me figure out how to do it on a linux machine, though. I give up. It's seeable!  That's all I really care about.

The text on the left-hand is what appears below.  The text on the right side reads (albeit sideways) - "Lēé îbú iadkai / kabrelēi pal nât" ("O moon, helper / shining (there) outside").
(If you look closely, you can see that I forgot to dot the "a" on "pal" there, too.)

Order of texts: Sandic -- Smooth English of Sandic -- Original English

--

Lēé îbú iadkai

kabrelēi pal toa

fian opétaen

bamée ba marka

Lēé îbú kasai

ici pébrelē

fian opétamal

raactab opétaen

--

O moon, helper

shining up above

smile down to me

your face is showing

O moon (which) is knowing

you are shining silver

inspire me

shine truth (to me).

--

Moon, sister moon

Shining so high

Smile down upon me

Full face in the sky

Moon, sister moon

with your silver glow

Whisper your secrets

Tell me what you know

Conlang Card Exchange 2012

I know, I'm a horrible person.

>.>

I'll update this at some point... someday.
  D;

Uxmici kaevo

I enjoy this chant, so I translated it.

The funny thing about chants is that I remember them when I want to sing them for fun, but almost never when I actually need them. ;)  I have panic attacks over ridiculous things, so the few times I remember them they're wonderful tools to get myself back into alignment.  (Something about the rhythm and repetitiveness breaks the panic feedback loop for me.)

They're so useful.

"talēl yahl", the last line, is not really "I am changing".  It's something more like... "I am, changingly"- "My being is change", or even "I am change".  "I am changing" is just "katalēli yahl".  Still, "I am changing" is the easiest English for that spot, so I've left it as the others are ugly.

Order of texts:  Sandic -- Smooth English of Sandic -- Original English
--

*

Uxmici kaevo

kamalēimi béno

kamai hélo

talēl yahl 

Water has birthed (me)

Cleansing powerfully

Acting for healing

I am changing

Born of water

cleansing powerful

healing changing

I am

*image from here.

Ba perad bafac

When I was a child and there was work to be done, a group of us together would sing a song to distract our minds and help the time pass.  This is true even today, though I have no group to sing with.  The old method has been adapted to my ways, and I still sing to myself or hum to myself when I've got something to do.

I was cleaning the house today and simultaneously surfing the web (this is possible, I assure you) when I came across this song on youtube.  It's about six minutes through, and by the time the first playthrough was done, I was singing along in Sandic.  A spontaneous translation!

Anyway, I thought it worth sharing here.  Perhaps one day I will collect all the Sandic songs and make a CD. :)

A note: At first, I was singing "ba reejilian" ("towards the ocean"), but I changed it later to "ba reejil gre" ("until the ocean/to the ocean") because it preserves the original rhyme.  Both work here, I guess.  It's just a matter of personal preference.

Order of texts: Sandic -- Smooth English of Sandic -- Original English

*

Ba perad bafac, 

bafac wî bazefa

ba perad bafac

ba réjil gre

lēé ama iab o(lēé)kre

gezo lēé yahl felē

lēé ada iab o(lēé)kre

ba réjil gre

---

The river flows,

it flows and grows

the river flows

until the ocean

O mother, carry me

I myself am your child

O father, carry me

until the ocean

---

The river is flowing,

flowing and growing

the river is flowing

down to the sea

Mother, carry me

your child I will always be

Father, carry me

down to the sea

* image from here