Albanian to English

Thread: Albanian to English

Tags: None
  1. cortom's Avatar

    cortom said:

    Default

    You sure did! Much, very much, has become clear! flit=whisper, that line about giving strength, the 'sic di zemer vetem ti'-thing, and the business about drying, well, everything! I'm very, very grateful. I was touched by this song even before I understood a single word. And I'm not disappointed now that I understand the whole thing. It's truly heartbreaking.

    Now I must repay my debts. Unfortunately, Dutch is not very much in demand, but I can always try my hand at someFrench lyrics.
  2. Balkaneuro said:

    Default

    Well, I'm glad I could help you! No pay back needed! Hope you continue to enjoy Albanian music!
  3. cortom's Avatar

    cortom said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Balkaneuro View Post
    Well, I'm glad I could help you! No pay back needed! Hope you continue to enjoy Albanian music!
    I sure will! Albanian music is the best discovery I made in many many years.

    In the spirit of that old saw (you know: translate a song to someone, and he is happy for a day, teach him some Albanian, and he is happy each day of his life), I have two more questions about this text.

    1) if I read 'shpirt', should I translate it as 'soul', or 'heart', or are the two interchangeable (I refer to the second line of the lyric)

    2) I understood the seperate words of line 2 of the refrain, but failed to turn them into a sentence. As I realise now because of that 'ti'-word (dot ti mbaj). I presumed that 'ti' alway refered to the second person (you). Could you elaborate on the function of 'ti' in this part of the sentence?

    I realise that this kind of questions may very well lead too very elaborate answers, and if that is the case, just pretend I didn't ask them. You already did more than I hoped for. (You are Albanian nr. 3 that I asked for help with this song)
  4. Balkaneuro said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by cortom View Post
    I sure will! Albanian music is the best discovery I made in many many years.

    In the spirit of that old saw (you know: translate a song to someone, and he is happy for a day, teach him some Albanian, and he is happy each day of his life), I have two more questions about this text.

    1) if I read 'shpirt', should I translate it as 'soul', or 'heart', or are the two interchangeable (I refer to the second line of the lyric)

    2) I understood the seperate words of line 2 of the refrain, but failed to turn them into a sentence. As I realise now because of that 'ti'-word (dot ti mbaj). I presumed that 'ti' alway refered to the second person (you). Could you elaborate on the function of 'ti' in this part of the sentence?

    I realise that this kind of questions may very well lead too very elaborate answers, and if that is the case, just pretend I didn't ask them. You already did more than I hoped for. (You are Albanian nr. 3 that I asked for help with this song)
    1) Shpirt literally means soul, however, it is, in many cases interchangeable. For example the exact lyrics are: "vret zemer dhe ha ndonje shpirt" an exact translation of this would be "it kills the Heart and eats the Soul" however "soul " is more spirit-like therefore in this case it would make more sense to use "heart" as in it eats away the heart an actual part of us. I hope that makes sense.

    2)You are correct "ti" does mean you, however, when speaking English for example if we say "he went to the library" in Albanian it would be "vajti ne biblioteke". That sentence is five words, in Albanian only three. So my point here is that, the pronoun is like joined with the verb. So ok now back to your question. "Do ti mbaj" i believe is slang, because of the fact. In past tense it would be "I mbajta" Do means will, without the T infront of the I which refers to ones self. as in i will do something. However when you use "do"(will) you must use te after it. So properly it should be "Do te ti mbaj lotet" which means I will hold Your tears" However, if you just take out te it makes it refering to yourself I believe. "te" means "of" however in many cases it changes depending on the sentence. So "Do ti mbaj" is like I'll hold" and "Do te ti mbaj" "I will hold" Thats the best I can do at explaining that sentence. Sorry if it is confusing which i'm sure it is as I re-read my explanation! I know its difficult to understand why it is using "ti" when ti means "you" but the best way i can explain that is it is kind of saying "I will hold back the tears (caused from your actions) !? "Lotet do ti mbaj" I will hold back the tears "Lotet do te ti mbaj" I will hold back your tears. Not as in you are crying but as in the tears you have been responsible for. Hope I helped!
  5. cortom's Avatar

    cortom said:

    Default Ciljeta - Do do ti do

    @Balkaneuro: thanks again. I just love Albanian. Cannot explain why. In part because of all those beautiful songs. But the language in itself attracts me too.

    @everyone: now that I discovered this wonderful forum, I might as well use it. As a rule I'm not wild about Ciljeta's songs. But this one is superb. Anyone willing to translate in English? I marked the parts that I'm most interested in.

    Ciljeta - Do do ti do

    Ti nuk e din ta kuptosh njė zemėr
    ti nuk e din ta fitosh nje femėr
    ti nuk e din se dhe unė po vuaj
    ti nuk e din, ti je bėr pėr mua i huaj
    mė ke tradhtuar po po
    tė kam duruar po po
    keshtu mbaruam po po
    ti dil nga jeta ime
    tė kam bėsuar po po
    shum ka duruar po po
    ti dil nga jeta ime tani

    Ref.Do do ti do me zemėr kėrkon tė luash
    njė gjė mėso sa keē zemėr do tė vuash
    do do ti do me zemėr kėrkon te tallesh
    njė gjė mėso njė femėr ti tė bėn tė falesh (2x)
  6. re-volter said:

    Post www.teksteshqip.com

    Shkoni te teksteshqip.com se i ka te gjitha tekstet
  7. Balkaneuro said:

    Default

    Ciljeta - Do do ti do

    Ti nuk e din ta kuptosh njė zemėr
    you don't know how to understand one(this) heart
    ti nuk e din ta fitosh nje femėr
    you don't know how to win a girl (over)
    ti nuk e din se dhe unė po vuaj
    you don't know why I also suffer
    ti nuk e din, ti je bėr pėr mua i huaj
    you dont know, that you have become a stranger to me
    mė ke tradhtuar po po
    you have betrayed me, oh oh
    tė kam duruar po po
    i have withstaded it, oh oh
    keshtu mbaruam po po
    this is how we ended(our relationship) oh oh
    ti dil nga jeta ime
    get out of my life
    tė kam bėsuar po po
    i have beleived you, oh oh
    shum kam duruar po po
    i have withstanded a lot
    ti dil nga jeta ime tani
    get out of my life now

    Ref.Do do ti do me zemėr kėrkon tė luash
    you want to, your asking(wanting) to play with (this) heart
    njė gjė mėso sa keē zemėr do tė vuash
    learn this one thing, you will suffer very much sweetheart
    do do ti do me zemėr kėrkon te tallesh
    you want to, your asking(wanting) to mock (this) heart
    njė gjė mėso njė femėr ti tė bėn tė falesh (2x)
    learn this one ting, this one girl makes you pray

    when i use asking and wanting as almost one thing i'm just trying to explain that when you say in albanian "kerkon te ___" its translation in english is like "your asking for it" but in albanian it means more sense with want.

    when they use po, po i don't know if she's saying "yes, yes " which is Po in Albanian or if she is greiving, which it seemed like it is. Many languages in the Balkans e.x. albanian, greek etc. uses the term "O Po Po" which shows greving in a way as in "O no no" "Oh" etc. I don't know any other way to explain that.
  8. cortom's Avatar

    cortom said:

    Lightbulb

    Thanks again, Balkaneuro, you are wonderful! It all makes sense now.
    I completely misunderstood the 'ti dil nga jeta ime' part (thought 'jeta' was a form of 'jam', although I knew it to mean 'life' already), and I never understood - till now - the meanings of 'tallesh' and 'falesh'. 'Njė femėr' in the sense of 'this girl' is also very illuminating. I thought it was indefinite ('some girl').

    Strange to think that - as a student - I didn't like foreign language courses, while now I find it more exciting then any other puzzle.

    When I come across a song that really gets at me, I want to know what it's about. I have this online Albanian dictionary that I consult a lot. Sometimes I don't find the word I'm looking for, like when the text contains spelling errors, or when a verb or noun is used in inflected form. Then I have to guess, and sometimes I get the meaning all wrong. Even if I find all the words, the meaning of the sentence as a whole may still be unclear. But I'm learning (vččrry slowly).

    Speaking about spelling errors, could it be that the lyric of Ndarja should start with 'Sphirt ime thyhet ...' in stead of 'Shpirti me thyhet ...'?
  9. Balkaneuro said:

    Default

    I am glad you are learning so quickly, you seem very hard working Haha some of your questions I really have to think about!
    It is "Shpirti me thyhet" Shpirt = soul. The reason for this is because it is not "ime" but rather "mė" "ime" meaning my, which is why you were probably confused, and "mė" doesn't have an exact meaning, it is another version of "mua" "myself" but you use it when your describe that you yourself are either doing something or something is happening to you. For example if you say "shpirti mė thyhet" it means "my heart breaks" and then it could be used for soemthing totally differnet as "mė falni" "Forgive me/ I'm sorry". I hope i made that clear for you. Also continue to enjoy languages, they are a beautiful thing. I am happy to see so many people enjoying the Albanian language
    Last edited by Balkaneuro; 02-08-2008 at 07:51 PM.
  10. cortom's Avatar

    cortom said:

    Default Teuta Selimi - Pi raki

    Here I am again. It's all Teuta's fault: why can't she sing in English, like everybody else?

    I know, it's a stupid joke, and I don't mean it. Please keep singing in Albanian, Teuta. The language seems like music by itself. Never the less, I would like a translation:

    Teuta Selimi - Pi raki
    ==============

    Nė vetmi kėndoj nga halli
    shum pėr ty moj m'ka mor malli
    nė kėtė mbrėmje pėrplot
    mall e mėrzi

    Si ti them unė shokvė
    t'mi si ta ndal unė
    lotin tim nė ket
    mbrėmje qė m'kė lėnė ti n'vetmi

    Ditėt tona pėrkujtohėn
    si flet zemra me shpalohet
    nė gjum t'rėnd dua tė bi
    tė jem me ty

    [ref:2x]
    Pi raki e kėndoj pėr ty
    tym duhanit dhimbjet
    po i shkri jo se m'dhemb
    tė gjith e din
    t'gjith e din thash e din se mė mungon ti

    Shikimi yt mė pėrcjell gjithkund
    mir e din qė tash t'kam humb
    t'kisha sonte njė her
    e t'mbaj nė gji

    Asgjė tjetėr s'deshiroj
    vetėm vetėn ta helmoj
    jetėn pa ty smundem
    ta jetoj

    Ditėt tona [..]
    [...] ty

    [ref:2x]
  11. Korcare19 said:

    Default

    Pi Raki
    Drink Raki

    Nė vetmi kėndoj nga halli
    I only sing out of worry
    shum pėr ty moj m'ka mor malli
    ..i miss you a lot ?
    nė kėtė mbrėmje pėrplot
    in this night full of
    mall e mėrzi
    yearning and sadnes (mall = miss)

    Si ti them unė shokvė t'mi
    How do i tell my friends
    si ta ndal unė
    how do i stop
    lotin tim nė ket mbrėmje
    my tears in this night
    qė m'kė lėnė ti n'vetmi
    that you've left me alone

    Ditėt tona pėrkujtohėn
    Our days are remembered?
    si flet zemra me shpalohet
    how my heart speaks it .. (shpalohet?)
    nė gjum t'rėnd dua tė bi
    i want to fall in a deep sleep
    tė jem me ty
    to be with you

    [ref:2x]
    Pi raki e kėndoj pėr ty
    Drink raki and sing for you
    tym duhanit dhimbjet po i shkri
    Tobacco (cig.) smoke melting the pain (melting the pain LIKE smoke)
    jo se m'dhemb
    not that it hurts
    tė gjith e din
    everyone knows
    t'gjith e din thash e din se mė mungon ti
    everyone knows, now they know that i miss you (mungon = absent/not here)

    Shikimi yt mė pėrcjell gjithkund
    your look takes (accompanies) me everywhere
    mir e din qė tash t'kam humb
    know very well ive lost you
    t'kisha sonte njė her
    to have you tonight one more time
    e t'mbaj nė gji
    and to hold you on my chest?

    Asgjė tjetėr s'deshiroj
    I dont wish/want anything else
    vetėm vetėn ta helmoj
    only to poison myself
    jetėn pa ty smundem ta jetoj
    can't live life without you


    Maybe Balkaneuro can help with the ones i missed
  12. cortom's Avatar

    cortom said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Balkaneuro View Post
    [...]The reason for this is because it is not "ime" but rather "mė" "ime" meaning my, which is why you were probably confused, [,,,]I hope i made that clear for you. [...] I am happy to see so many people enjoying the Albanian language
    Yes, I understand. 'Mė' is a reflexive pronoun. We use it in Dutch too. By coļncidence it's even the same word, but written as 'me'. You could use exactly the same construction (het hart breekt me = (lit.) the heart breaks to myself) and you would be understood, although no one here would phrase this sentence in that particular way. If I understand it right, when I said 'shpirt ime thyhet...' shpirt would be subject (performing the action of breaking something else) and an Albanian would feel an object is missing in the sentence. While the suffix -i causes shpirt to assume the role of object.

    @Corsair: thank you very much. I still miss some fine points, but much has become clear. I found 'unfold' as a meaning for 'shpalohet', but I'm not sure how this fits in the sentence.
  13. Balkaneuro said:

    Default

    Drink Raki
    -----------Drink Brandy
    Nė vetmi kėndoj nga halli
    I only sing out of worry
    shum pėr ty moj m'ka mor malli
    ..i miss you a lot ? --------- I long for you very much
    nė kėtė mbrėmje pėrplot
    in this night full of
    mall e mėrzi
    yearning and sadnes (mall = miss)

    Si ti them unė shokvė t'mi
    How do i tell my friends
    si ta ndal unė
    how do i stop
    lotin tim nė ket mbrėmje
    my tears in this night
    qė m'kė lėnė ti n'vetmi
    that you've left me alone

    Ditėt tona pėrkujtohėn
    Our days are remembered? ------ I remember our days together
    si flet zemra me shpalohet
    how my heart speaks it .. (shpalohet?) ------ how my heart speaks it now (falls apart)
    nė gjum t'rėnd dua tė bi
    i want to fall in a deep sleep
    tė jem me ty
    to be with you

    [ref:2x]
    Pi raki e kėndoj pėr ty
    Drink raki and sing for you
    tym duhanit dhimbjet po i shkri
    Tobacco (cig.) smoke melting the pain (melting the pain LIKE smoke)
    jo se m'dhemb
    not that it hurts
    tė gjith e din
    everyone knows
    t'gjith e din thash e din se mė mungon ti
    everyone knows, now they know that i miss you (mungon = absent/not here)

    Shikimi yt mė pėrcjell gjithkund
    your look takes (accompanies) me everywhere
    mir e din qė tash t'kam humb
    know very well ive lost you
    t'kisha sonte njė her
    to have you tonight one more time
    e t'mbaj nė gji
    and to hold you on my chest?--- sort of like to say "to hold you close" samething practically
    Asgjė tjetėr s'deshiroj
    I dont wish/want anything else
    vetėm vetėn ta helmoj
    only to poison myself
    jetėn pa ty smundem ta jetoj
    can't live life without you


    good translation Korcare
  14. Demetra said:

    Default

    Hey..i have just heard one song..Qou Rxhoo from Shpati.It sound to me like folklor..but i can not find text.If you can,translate it for me.
    Thank you
  15. cortom's Avatar

    cortom said:

    Default

    Oh boy, this one seems more complicated than the other two.

    1: nė vetmi: 'I alone ...' (lit. in loneliness) or 'I just sing ...'?
    2: mė ka mor malli: 'I long for you' or 'I have longed for you' (Past tense?)
    3: 'si ti them ...': can 'ti' also refer to the plural form of the second person? Or is 'shokvė' a singular form?
    4: the construction 'ta + verb' is used several times. Is this how an infinitive is formed in Albanian (like 'to + verb' in English)? I have wondered about this before.
    5: what does 'shpalohet' mean, literally?
    6: Pi raki: 'Drink raki' as an imperative or 'I drink raki' as a statement?
    7: I still don't understand the 'tym duhanit dhimbjet po i shkri' part. 'tym duhanit'= 'smoke from tobacco', that right? Is 'dhimbjet' a substantive? Or a verb? What person (1st, 2nd, 3d) is 'shkri'? I would guess 1st person (I melt).
    8: 'jo se mė dhemb'='because it hurts me'?
    9: is it 'thash' or 'tash' (now).

    The whole refrain still is somewhat mysterious to me.

    10: 'mirė e din': thought this was 2nd person (it is good you know?), but I seem to be mistaken. Does it mean 'it is good I know', or do I still misunderstand?

    11: 'njė gji'='at my bosom'?
    12: 'ta helmoj', that poisoning thing, could I take that to mean 'get drunk'?
    13: 'jetėn'='jeta' in the role of object of the sentence? Is that right?

    I know, I know, I should pay you guys. You are so helpfull. I think I can learn a lot from this text. I realise that what I really need, more than a dictionary, is a good grammar.

    I realise too how difficult a good translation really is. Make it too literal and the meaning is unclear. But make it too free and the poetry is lost. HOW it is said is so much more important here than WHAT is said (because not much is ever said in lovesongs).
  16. Balkaneuro said:

    Default

    1: ne vetmi means: alone, in loneliness
    2: me ka mar malli (per ty) is past tense: "I have missed you" me merr malli (per ty) is present " i miss you/long for you"
    3: shkove is singular, and yes ti can be plural
    4: yes, for example ta marr - to take, te shkoj, to go
    5. it means to unfold, or deploy however it is using it harshly in the song i believe i guess trying to be descriptive in some way. I do not know how else to explain that. For example to say my heart unfolds in pieces, would not be something you would say instead of my heart breaks in pieces.
    6: I drink raki, but in Albanian you dont have to put I in front for it to be understood that you are talking about yourself, it's like saying "drinking raki" I think. if you are refering to a single person you can say "pi raki" drink raki or plural "pini raki"
    7: dhimbjet means pains, dhimbje means pain. shkri is first person but it doesn't mean "I melt", it means "melts" if you want to say I melt you say Shkrihem" In the setence it is saying "the tobacco smoke melts my pains"
    8: "no, because it hurts" se is "cuz" sepse is "because"
    9 "Tash" means now, "Tani" means now too, but they are different dialects
    10. "mire e din" means "you know(it) well" "A e din nese eshte mire?" means (you know if its good?) "E di qe mire eshte" means i know it is good
    11. that is literally what it means.
    12. nope, helmoj means poision. E.x. "qelizat te mi helmoj" "to poision my cells." To say drunk it is "i/e pire" or "i/e dehur" i became drunk "u deha"
    13: yes that is correct. "kaloje jeten me gezim" "live/pass your life with happiness"
  17. Korcare19 said:

    Default

    wooo props Balkaneuro je i madh
    and props to you Cortom for being so interested, good to see.
  18. Balkaneuro said:

    Default

    Ēou mor Rexho dil te lama,
    Darsem t'madhe pot ban nana,
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    Ēou ma i miri i nanes oh se s'ka nana tjeter oh
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    Ēou ma i miri i nanes oh se s'ka nana tjeter oh


    Oh mor At tu thaft Jela,
    Qysh ma mbyte Rexhen n'shqelma,
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    Ēou sokol o i nanes o se ska nana tjeter o,
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    Ēou ma i miri i nanes oh se s'ka nana tjeter oh

    Po vin krushqit o rethit malit,
    Rexha i vdekur o ne grazhd te kalit,
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    Ēou delia i nanes o se ska nana tjeter o,
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    Ēou ma i miri i nanes oh se s'ka nana tjeter oh

    Oh mor krushqi hani-pini,
    Neser Rexhen ne dhe t'ma shtini,
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    Ēou delia i nanes o se ska nana tjeter o,
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    Ēou ma i miri i nanes oh se s'ka nana tjeter oh.
  19. Demetra said:

    Default

    Thax,sweety,but i do not really think,that i can traslate it myself .
    Finaly...i found a book albanian grammar in my university...i so happy
  20. Balkaneuro said:

    Default

    Ēou mor Rexho dil te lama,
    get up oh Rexho, come out to the light
    Darsem t'madhe pot ban nana,
    Your mom is making a big wedding for you
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    get up Rexho, get up young man
    Ēou ma i miri i nanes oh se s'ka nana tjeter oh
    Get up, you who are mom's best(son) because mom doesn't have another oh
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    get up Rexho, get up young son
    Ēou ma i miri i nanes oh se s'ka nana tjeter oh
    get up, you who are mom's best(son) because mom doesn't have another oh


    Oh mor At tu thaft Jela,
    oh you, horse, let your wind go dry (cursing the horse)
    Qysh ma mbyte Rexhen n'shqelma,
    How you chocked Rexho you stepped on him
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    get up Rexho, get up young man
    Ēou sokol o i nanes o se ska nana tjeter o,
    get up mom's falcon, because mom doesn't have another o
    *k when it says mom's falcon , it means as if his mom would call him sokol growing up, just like sayin my little sweetiepie or something but it means falcon

    Po vin krushqit o rethit malit,
    the marraige arrangers are coming around the mountain
    Rexha i vdekur o ne grazhd te kalit,
    Rexha is dead, between the horse
    Ēou Rexho ēou djalo,
    get up Rexho, get up young son

    Oh mor krushqi hani-pini,
    O you part of the marriage eat and drink
    Neser Rexhen ne dhe t'ma shtini,
    Tomorrow you shall ly my Rexho in the soil


    In an Albanian wedding the krushqi are the people who come to the guy and then they go get the bride at her house, there made up of a bunch of close relatives, a band and a religious affiliate. I hope that makes sense.

    This is a folk song about a story in which Rexho a very young man, was getting ready for his wedding and he died the day of his wedding because he had an accident with a horse and he stepped on him i think and choked him somehow. So it is supposed to be very sad and sorrowful.
    Last edited by Balkaneuro; 06-07-2008 at 07:06 PM.