On Saturday evenings our practice group has been doing something new. We pick a Chamorro song, listen to it, write down all the lyrics in Chamorro and then translate the song into English. At the end, we all mute ourselves and sing along. This is actually one of the primary methods that my boyfriend used to learn Chamorro when he was in high school – he listened to Chamorro songs over and over, wrote down the lyrics, and then translated them. When he proposed this activity for our evening practice group I was less than thrilled because I prefer stories to music, and listening comprehension is my weakest skill. But damn, this exercise really helps! We’ve been doing this for almost 3 months now, and I can really see an improvement in my listening comprehension. Here are the lyrics and translation we did for “I Yori” by Mike Duenas, which is now one of my favorite Chamorro songs.
| Chamoru | English |
| I finatto-ku, neni, gi gimå-mu, ai taftaf guihi na ogga’an | My arrival, baby, at your house was early that morning |
| Hu dåkdak i pettå-mu, ya si nanå-mu yu’ *tumaggam | I knocked on your door, and your mother is the one *who met me |
| Hu faisen si nanå-mu, neni, “Kao siña hit umá’li’e?” | I asked your mother, baby, “Can we see each other?” |
| Ilek-ña, “Taigue i hagå-hu,” lao gágaige ha’ i yori’ | She said, “My daughter isn’t here,” but the slippers were still there |
| Hu tungo’ ha’ na gaige hao neni, *mampos rektu si nåna | I know that you are there baby, your mother is *so strict |
| Eståba hao gi apusento, ya si nåna gi såla | You were in the bedroom, and your mother was in the livingroom |
| Lao magof i kurason-hu, neni, maseha ti umá’li’e hit | But my heart is happy, baby, even though we did not see each other |
| Sa hu ripåra gi kånton potta’ na gágaige ha’ i yori’ | Because I noticed on the edge of the door that the slippers were still there |
| I sigienti diha finatto-ku, ai taftaf guihi na ogga’an | The next day my arrival was early that morning |
| Hu dåkdak i pettå-mu ya si tatå-mu yu’ tumaggam | I knocked on your door and your father is the one who met me |
| Hu faisen si tatå-mu, neni, “Kao siña hit umá’li’e?” | I asked your father, baby, “Can we see each other?” |
| Ilek-ña, “Nangga un råtu låhi-hu,” ya ha få’om yu’ ni yori’ | He said, “Wait a moment, my boy,” and he struck me with the slipper |
| Hu tungo’ ha’ na gaige hao neni, mampos rektu si tåta | I know that you are there, baby, your father is so strict |
| Eståba hao gi apusentu, ya si tåta gi petta | You were in the bedroom, and your father was at the door |
| Lao magof i kurason-hu, neni, maseha ti umá’li’e hit | But my heart is happy, baby, even though we did not see each other |
| Sa hu ripåra gi kånton potta’ na gágaige ha’ i yori’ | Because I noticed on the edge of the door that the slippers were still there |
| I mina’tres biahi finatto-ku, ai taftaf guihi na ogga’an | My third arrival was early that morning |
| Hu dåkdak i pettå-mu ya hågu neni nai oppan | I knocked on your door and you were the one, baby who I heard |
| Ai magof i kurason-hu, neni, sa’ hågu på’go hu lí’li’e | Ai, my heart is happy, baby because you are the one I am seeing today |
| Ai malinek, neni, ilu-hu ni mafå’om i yori’ | Ai, my head hurts baby from being struck by the slipper |
| Hu tungo’ ha’ na gaige hao neni, mampos rektu si nåna | I know that you are there, baby, your mother is so strict |
| Eståba hao gi apusentu, ya si nåna gi såla | You were in the bedroom, and your mother was in the livingroom |
| Lao magof i kurason-hu, neni, maseha ti umá’li’e hit | But my heart is happy, baby, even though we did not see each other |
| Sa’ hu ripåra gi kånton potta’ na gágaige ha’ i yori’ | Because I noticed on the edge of the door that the slippers were still there |
| Hu tungo’ ha’ na gaige hao neni, mampos rektu si tåta | I know that you are there baby, your father is so strict |
| Eståba hao gi apusentu, ya si tåta gi petta | You were in the bedroom and your father was at the door |
| Lao magof i kurason-hu, neni, maseha ti umá’li’e hit | But my heart is happy, baby, even though we did not see each other |
| Sa’ hu ripåra gi kånton potta’ na gágaige ha’ i yori’ | Because I noticed on the edge of the door that the slippers were still there |
| Sa’ hu ripåra gi kånton potta’ na gágaige ha’ i yori’ | Because I noticed on the edge of the door that the slippers were still there |
| Sa’ hu ripåra gi kånton potta’ na gágaige ha’ i yori’ | Because I noticed on the edge of the door that the slippers were still there |
Notes
Taggam: For this word, learningchamoru.com lists the definition as “block, restrain, catch.” However, in the ways we’ve heard this word used in daily speech it is also used in the context of “to meet someone or something.” Examples of what we’ve heard in speech include:
- Ilek-ña si abok-hu na siña tumaggam hamyo gi sagan batkon aire. = My friend said that she would meet all of you / pick all of you up at the airport.
- Yanggen kumeke’malångu hao, ilek-ña na debidi un kånno i amot-mu ya u taggam. = If you are about to get sick, she said that you should take your medicine and it will catch it (ie: the sickness will be blocked early)
There’s also a dialogue on learningchamoru.com that uses the word taggam in the context of meeting someone or picking someone up: ya u taggam yu’ = he/she will meet me / pick me up
Mampos: This word technically means “too much, extreme, or exceeding”, but sometimes it doesn’t always feel right to translate into the English exactly this way. In this song, we translated the lyrics mampos rektu si nanå-mu or mampos rektu si tatå-mu as “your mother/father is so strict” rather than as “your mother/father is too strict” to capture the feeling of the parents being “very VERY strict” in English. Another phrase where a similar thing happens is in Hu guaiya hao mampos, which I think is better captured in English as “I love you SO MUCH” (or a similar sentiment) rather than “I love you too much.”
Lengguahi-ta 