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.  

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