Friday, April 3, 2009

Lyrics of Popular Apatani Song -1

Dopii Doka Ajin
Dopii doka ajin ha
miige tatu ajin ha
ema koter mapa taku ma
manyan macho dola
wui hoter inpa taku ma
aha khiikhii dola
Dopii doka ajin ha
Ngiika apin diigo ho bui giiha bida niin
o tula ho hiiri liiha bida niin
tami une ho mihn diiha bida niin
hurli une ho tarne giiha bida niin
Dopii doka ajin ha
Niimi bilo ngiika riiyi-kiira pa hento
siilo pako da sarie-tamyo kumi no
ngiika sango lenda ka daru-yasi kumi no
hago lenda ka dorii-yamu kumi no
murtu-paku ho kuban nantii kubyo mi
sa-dango ho chilo nantii kubyo mi
Dopii doka ajin ha
Niimi siilo pako da karie-siimi pa hendo ku
niimi koda ngo durie-yalang pa hendo ku
myodi liipa ka diidii-tayin pa hendo ku
yasi liipa ka tandii-yasi pa hendo ku
Dopii doka ajin ha
miige tatu ajin ha
ema koter mapa taku ma
manyan macho dola
wui hoter inpa taku ma
aha khiikhii dola
Dopii doka ajin ha
Singer: Gyati Anda
Lyricist: ?
(readers may kindly inform me the name of the lyricist)
Note: This post is a transcript of a recorded song: any inadvertent error is regretted. Also the lyrics of this song is being transcripted from recorded song for the purpose of language study and the owner of this blog is not the copyright owner of this lyrics.
WHAT TO SEE IN THIS LYRICS:
This song describe an unfaithful friend. Various metaphors are being used for the purpose of description. Dictionary meaning of metaphor is ‘A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison’. Some of the metaphors in the song are- dopii doka ajin, apin diigo hoka bui guha biniin, riiyi-kiira, daru-yasi, murtu-paku ho kuban niin, myodi liipa ka diidii-taying etc. Do you know their meaning? Can you find some more metaphors in the song? Some of these metaphors are derived from folklore, some from social practice in Apatani society and some from physical world. I just have brief idea about some of the metaphors. Let’s find out: do feel free to comment and join in discussion to elucidate their meanings.

8 comments:

tdtara said...

Hi GT
good post !!
being weak in grammar i could not post any comments on your last posts, today i could not stop myself on going through this post of yours.
let me have some words....what i understood is.......

1.Niimi bilo ngiika riiyi-kiira pa hento:riiyi-kiira(special plant used for UYI- like in myoko, murung etc), it seems Riiyi-kiira mean very special/ dear one.

2.siilo pako da sarie-tamyo kumi no :Sarie- a itching causing plant, Tamyo(no idea), wouldn't it mean "sarie-tamyo chikang pa niipa dalyi ho ano dala, i.e cursing you at your every step.

3.ngiika sango lenda ka daru-yasi kumi no :it seems mean daru-yasi chikang pa Ngiika ingko-koye,miiko-koye lenda mi tuting biito la (obstructing at every step like summer flood).

4.myodi liipa ka diidii-taying pa hendo ku : diidii taying(poisonous mushroom), i.e Myodi-liipa hoka apin haya mokha mi taying bare diika hanke la diidii koniing yan pa.

@all viewers
Please do correct me @above sentences if any wrong (I JUST TYPED OUT WHAT I FEEL CORRECT).

Aha !! Tanii agung simi ahii hiija biilyi kuke.

GT said...

@tdtara
Thnx.
I think u interpreted the meaning well.
There are other metaphors as well... infact almost every line of the song contained a metaphor:
'apin diigo ho bui liiha biniin'
'o tula ho hiiri liiha biniin'
'tami une ho mihn diiha biniin'
'dorii-yamu etc
let me try on some metaphors derived from our folklores

1.'karie-siimi'and 'durie-yalang'
'karie-siimi' is a legendary forbidden lake which if one looks at it will turn blind and 'durie-yalang' a forbidden stone which if one sit on it his body will be engulfed by the stone. A tragic story of bro n sis where sis is blinded by karie-siimi and her body engulfed by durie-yalang is being narrated in one folktale.
=thus in this song the poet describe his friend to be liken to karie-siimi and durie yalang- cause difficulties and bring miseries to him
2.'martu-paku kuban niin' and 'sa-dango chilo niin'They are from stories of Abotani: Buru Piicha tricked Abotani to lie on 'murtu-paku'(wooden feeding trough of pig)closed him into it and then pushed him down a high clif called 'sa-dango' to kill him.
=thus poet talks about his friend having evil design on him just as buru piicha had for abotani

Tutho said...

Lyrics Hage Tade

GT said...

@ tutho
thanks

millo tago said...

I am not a net savy person but by fluke I happened to encounter some of the blog postings especially pertaining to Apatani language, it shook my head to spin. I am happy there are many young Apatani boys and girls who want carry forward our language.

First of I would like to tell that the person who had written this lyrics is Mr. Tage Mobing, from Tajang Village and right he is residing in Itanagar.

"Dopu doka ajin ha"
Meaning: In olden days and even today when two boys or girls sleep together, they either fece their heads together in one direction or in opposite direction.In Apatani "Dopii" means facing heads together in "99" or "66" style whereas "Doshi" means a sleeping fashion in which one's legs faces other's head. Say "69" or "96" position. Invariably husband and wife will sleep in "Dopii" position, ofcourse young lovers of opposite sex also sleep in the same fashion. But "dopii" in this lyric mean "wife"

millo tago said...

"miige tatu ajin ha"
Meaning: In Apatani tradition whenever, husband or wife wants to divorce he or she breaks a "miige" (Tong)into two pieces indicating that their matrimonial relation ends from that point of time.

"Ngiika apin diigo ho bui giiha bida niin, o tula ho hiiri liiha bida niin, tami une ho mihn diiha bida niin, hulli une ho tarnye giiha bida niin"

Meaning: You were like a rat drop in my meal, like a foreign material in my drinks, like a infectant aggravating pain in my wound caused by biting of flies and like a puss in my boil.

"Niimi bilo ngiika riiyi-kiira pa hento, siilo pako da sarie-tamyo kumi no"

Meaning: In Apatani it is believed that "riiying and kiira" are good quality trees of two species. It is normally asked in Apatani "riiying-kiira hokii ha siirang sanda miitii nii". In apatani house construction 'siirang', 'tuli' and 'paaga' are the main foundation stone and backbone of the structure. Here lyrist compared his beloved wife with those two trees because he dreamed thatshe would make his home stong and create a heaven in that.

Further, 'sari' is a kind of tree and when it is cut or anybody going near the freshly cut wood, it causes skin allergy (itching) and swelling, whereas 'tamyo' is a kind of tree when it is cut and burnt produces sparking and splinters and at times cause injures nearby person or calamities like fire accident. Here, lyrist is expressing that he mistook his beloved for 'riiying' and 'kiira' but turned out to be a 'sari' and 'tamyo'.

"ngiika sango lenda ka daru-yasi kumi no, hago lenda ka dorii-yamu kumi no"

Meaning: "Daru yasi" is monsoon flood and "Dorii Yammu" is winter fire accident. Lyrics states that now you are like a monsoon flood and winter fire accident blocking the road of my journeying to glory.

millo tago said...

"murtu-paku ho kuban nantii kubyo mi, sa-dango ho chilo nantii kubyo mi"

Meaning: "Murtu paku" is a wooden plate in which our forefather Abotani was laid down and tied with canes (tasre) by Burru Piicha and thereafter rolled down in the deep gorge called 'sa-dango'.

Lyrist expresse that he thought all good about her with great expectation of mutual understanding and help but she turned out to be a 'sari-tamyo' instead of 'riihing-kiira', blocking his path of journey to glory like 'daru-yasi' and 'dorii-yamu' and finally she wanted to kill him by laying him and tying in 'murtu paku' thereafter rolling down to a deep gorge 'sa-dango'.

"Niimi siilo pako da karie-siimi pa hendo ku, niimi koda ngo durie-yalang pa hendo ku".

Meaning: 'karie-siimi' and 'durie-yalang' are jinxed lake and rock respectively, meaning thereby if you look at them they bring you bad luck and ruin you. Lyrist expresses that she was a jinxed lake and rock that appeared in human form in his life.

"myodi liipa ka diidii-taying pa hendo ku, yasi liipa ka tandii-yasi pa hendo ku"

Meaning: Lyrist thinks that she like a poisonous mushroom in the mid of deep jungle and poisonous water in the middle of sea.

It is one of the best Apatani lyrics with mixed serious tone and tenor sprinked with emotion. Hoped, that I have tried my best to give the nearest meaning of this lyrics with my limited Apatani vocabulary. For any clarification, I well come one and all.

Millo Tago,IFS
Executive Director & Conservator of Forests
Bannerghatta Biological Park
Bangalore-560083, Karnataka
email:tigermillo@yahoo.co.in
Mob: 09449842040

GT said...

@ millo tago

thanks a lot for visiting the blog... thanks also for your comments which are loaded with informations.

do visit again