October 23, 2013

DE WÂLDSANG - "The Forest Song" - Part IV (Third Verse)

This is the final verse of De Wâldsang. The short style of these last few posts has been something of a convenient diversion (for me, at least). I will be returning to more detailed Frisian lessons now that the song has been fully translated. You can see the previous verse here.

Fryske bewenners hawwe de Wâlden...
Frisian residents have the forest…

Fryske - “Frisian.” FREEs-kuh.
Bewenners - “residents, inhabitants.” BUH-veh-nuhrs.
Hawwe - “they have.” HAH-vuh.
De - “the.” DUH.
Wâlden - “forests.” VAHL-duhn.

Hja libje froed en from, sljocht binn' se en rjocht.
They live modestly and piously, simply in their rightness.

Hja - “they.” HYAH.
Libje - “to live.” LIHb-yuh.
Froed - “modest.” FROO-uhd.
En - “and.” EHN.
From - “pious, devout, reverent.” FROHm.
Sljocht (old spelling sljucht) - “smooth, simple.” SLYOHcht.
Binn’ se - “they are.” BIHN SUH.
Rjocht (old spelling rjucht) - “right, straight, law.” RYOHcht.

Eang fan útwrydskens, gol en ienfâldich...
Avoiding flamboyance, frank and humble...

Eang - "afraid, anxious." IH-uhng.
Fan - "of, by." FAHN.  
Útwrydskens - "exceptionality, flamboyance." EET-vreed-skuhns.
Gol  -  “frank, open-hearted.” GOHL.
En - “and.” EHN.
Ienfâldich - “simple, humble, uncomplicated, straightforward.” EE-UHN-FAHL-duhg.

Altyd deselde, wêr't men se sjocht.
Forever the same, wherever people see them.

Altyd - “always, forever” AHL-teed.
Deselde - “the same.” DEH-SEHL-duh. Selde means “same.”
Wêr - “where.” VEHr.
 ’T (short form of it) - “the, it.” UHt.
Men - “one, a person, they, people, you.” MUHn.
Se - “they, she.” SUH.
Sjocht – “see, look, watch.” SYOHcht. 
 

October 3, 2013

DE WÂLDSANG - "The Forest Song" - Part III (Second Verse)

My move is done and it is time to return to having fun with Frisian! As mentioned in the previous post, I'd like to take a quicker look at the second and third verses of De Wâldsang. Remember, you can read the full lyrics here.

Please bear with these next few entries: I'm just going to give cut-and-dry vocabulary words with their approximate pronunciations. I'll be returning to more regular lessons after these posts. As usual, any errors are my own; feel free to comment if you would like to share a correction.

Maaimoanne' pronkseal binne de Wâlden...
The forest makes a noble show in May...

Maai - "May." MIGH-yuh.
Moanne - "month, moon." MOH-ah-nuh.
Pronkje - "make a show, parade" PROHn-kyuh. The word in the song, pronkseal, possibly combines the work pronk (the noun "show") with the word eal, meaning "noble." IH-uhl.
Binne - "are." BIHN-nuh.
De - "the." DUh. 
Wâlden - "forests." VAHL-duhn.

't Hôf klaaid yn bloeiselwyt, geal sjongt en slacht...
The courtyard is clothed in white blossoms, the nightingale sings and claps/flaps...

It (short-form 't) - "the, it." UHt.
Hôf - "garden, court." HAWF (rhymes with the English "off").
Klaaid - "clothed." KLIGHd.
Yn - "in." EEn.
Bloeisel - "blossom." BLOY-suhl
Wyt - "white." VEEt.
Geal - "nightingale." GIH-uhl.
Sjongt - "he, she, it sings." SYOHNGt
En - "and." EHN.
Slacht - "he, she, it beats/claps." SLAHkht (the Frisian -ch- is said like the "ch" in German or in the Hebrew word "l'chaim")

Kijkes yn't finlân rinne te weidzjen... 
The cows in the fens go to the pathways...

Kijkes - KIGH-kuhs.
Yn't - short for yn it, "in the." EENT.
Finlân - "fen lands." FIHN-LAHN.
Rinne - "they walk, go." RIHN-nuh.
Te - "to." TUH.
Weidzjen - "pathways." VIGHd-zyuhn.

't Nôt weag't it fjild oer, swiid is de pracht.
The grain waves over the field, gentle is its magnificence.

It (short-form 't) - "the, it." UHt.
Nôt - "grain." NOHt.
Weag't - "he, she, it waves." VIH-uhg.
It - "the, it." UHt.
Fjild - "field." FYIHLD
Oer - "over." OH-uhr.
Swiid (swiet)- "gentle, soft, sweet." SWEE-uht.
Is - "is." IHs.
De - "the." DUh.
Pracht - "magnificence." PRAHkht (see the note on the Frisian -ch- above).

Part II in this series is available here.
Part IV, the third and final verse, is available here.