Re: A Charyan Brothel Song in Teonaht
| From: | Sally Caves <scaves@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, May 26, 1999, 23:01 |
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Boudewijn Rempt wrote:
>=20
>=20
> There's not much doubt as to the authorship of the songs in the
> collection: Mandein lua Radauq wasn't the author. The authors of these
> songs were simply the courtesans in the brothels or their visitors.
> Making up impromptu songs about love forms a large part of 'an evening
> out', and the best songs will be remembered for a long time. Whether
> Mandein was the compiler of the collection is doubtful too, he is mostl=
y
> known for a large travel-guide through western Andal. Of course, the
> question of the authorship is not important. As Yundiai notes in his
> introduction to his translation: '... de dichters zelf bleven anoniem,
> ze zongen het lied een keer, het werd vaker gezongen en tenslotte
> opgeschreven. Het waren geen lange filosofische leerdichten die de naam
> van de auteur moesten vereeuwigen, het ging hen om het snelvlietend
> plezier onder de dainam-bomen.'
Yssytra tells me that she is very grateful to have this bit of
information
about Mandein as putative author only... she has asked me to forward her
suggestion that the Charyan brothels were perhaps not limited to women
courtesans. "Considering in the poem the expertise of the male lover,
it is possible that there were patronesses as well as patrons, male=20
prostitutes as well as courtesans, yes?"
> Since the object of the exercise is to make a translation from Issytra
> Seppelnarmyeeb's version, and not of the Denden original (though takers
> are welcome) I present here an interlinear version of the song, with
> some linguistic notes. (The Teonaht version seems to be sufficiently
> original that I think I will attempt a Denden version of the Teonaht
> version, myself).=20
Issytra looks very much forward to that, she says. <G> She wonders if
you will rhyme it. :) She is a little worried that your version will
supplant hers, as you give it below. I told her not to worry; I didn't
think that any other conlanger was going to take either of these on in
public. Someone may call my bluff, though! <GGGGGGGGGGG> Should I
direct people to my darned straightforward translation of the Denden
that I put on a page last week? You've borrowed some of its vocabulary,
I notice, in your version below!
<GGGGG>
Where do I get one of those blue "free-speech" ribbons? =20
Sally yry myeebihs
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
I hope the accents come through correctly (this
> fall KDE 2.0 will come out - unicode throughout!).
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> lamay-neran.men
> song-stroll.AMA
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> The amatory attitudinal qualifier <-men> is necessary because
> of the tender relations between singer and the person sung-to
> (why isn't there something in English I can use to translate
> 'bezongene' with?)
> I
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> E.do qoi.qoi s=FCmzi neran.an.men
> poss.1s finger.finger tipsy stroll.DELIM.AMA
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> There exists a separate set of pronouns for use between lovers.
> Since that set is not used here, the relationship between the
> the 'I' of the song and 'you', must take place in a brothel -
> of course, Issytra Seppelnarmyeeb is spot on in her assumption that
> that doesn't mean that the patron doesn't love the courtesan.
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> S=FCs=FC-=FC.men e.di hod'atahl par
> shake.DELIM.AMA poss.2s head'fore over
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> Matan e.di heril h=E9ya.ya.men
> alognside poss.2s braid glide.DELIM.AMA
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> W=FCwish e.di y=E9.yi'zu, tirme'ar
> dance poss.2s dimple.DIM'LOC neck'LOC
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> II
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> Sung.men e.di teal ar, damba.zi
> rest.AMA poss.2s shoulder LOC weight.AUG
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> Yuanei tiran e.di yanang.dir tan
> pleasure grasp poss.1s breast.pl TAN
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> E.do nahak hya tan sunane
> poss.1s penis smooth TAN saunter
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> _nahak_ is common word, but not coarse - neither is it refined,
> Charyans would use paraphrases and metaphors to achieve a refined
> effect. The same holds for _yenu_, below.
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> Nuy.nuy nanlan bin.y ar anyalan
> quick.DUP run belly.DIM LOC navel
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> III
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> Mo dulane, qoi.qoi dena altah
> then waver finger.finger stammer long_for
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> Raygin penne tan naina tupa
> wheatfield dive TAN nestle suddenly
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> wheatfields, grain, cornstalks, are all very common similes.
> Another poem that makes use of related imagery is at
>
http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/andal/literature/raygin.html.
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> IV
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> Xoxo bernus musa yaraush, bajan.hau
> shake hill stream lavish come.IMP
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> E.di yenu nanah drai'xux, bajan.hau
> poss.2s cunt turn_around girl'lusty come.IMP
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> Noteworthy in the last two lines is the variance in interpretation
> between myself and Issytra Seppelnarmyeeb. In Denden, and certainly
> in Denden poetry, it is possible that suffixes like the imperative
> <-hau> IMP apply to all verbs in the phrase. It is equally possible
> to interpret the imperative as only applying to the verb it is
> actually affixed to. Both interpretations are valid.
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> Notes
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> [1] The linguistic situation of Andal is very complex. There are a numb=
> of vernacular dialects, like Northern Colloquial (which was the languag=
e
> of the song 'Xipu, Manxuri Penerar', previously presented here). A
> common language understood throughout the empire developed out of these
> vernacular dialects together with important influences from the classic=
al
y.html
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> Yundia. 1991. _Brahir Laqa canun tan ryabay. Duizend liedjes voor tusse=
n