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The Silent Night Challenge | ||
Tags: Song Texts | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Music, Movies, TV & Radio |  | |
| Ogrim Heptaglot Senior Member France Joined 4641 days ago 991 posts - 1896 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, French, Romansh, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Catalan, Latin, Greek, Romanian | Message 1 of 11 10 December 2013 at 12:09pm | IP Logged |
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Soon it will be Christmas, and many of us will sing, or at least listen to Christmas carols. One of the best known is without doubt Silent Night, or Stille Nacht, as the original title is. According to Wikipedia it has been translated into 140 languages.
So here is the challenge. Please give the lyrics of the first verse in your language (or any language you know, and provide a literal translation into English (to the extent possible). It can be fun to compare how the translators have adapted or changed the lyrics to fit the words of their language to the tune. I'll start with the official English version: Silent night, Holy night All is calm, all is bright Round young virgin , mother and child Holy infant so, tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace! And the German original: Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! Alles schläft. Einsam wacht Nur das traute heilige Paar. Holder Knab’ im lockigten Haar, Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh! Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh! And here is the Norwegian version with a literal translation: Glade jul, hellige jul engler daler ned i skjul. Hit de flyver med paradisgrønt, hvor de ser hva for Gud er skjønt. Lønnlig i blant oss de går, lønnlig i blant oss de går. English translation: Happy Christmas, holy Christmas, Angels are coming down in hiding, They fly here with paradise green, where they see what is beautiful to God, In secret they walk amongst us in secret they walk amongst us. Disclaimer: I know this is a religious song, and one of the forum rules is NO RELIGION. However, this is not meant as a comment or a stand on religion, it is just about a well known song at how it has been translated. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Josquin Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4846 days ago 2266 posts - 3992 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian | Message 2 of 11 10 December 2013 at 12:22pm | IP Logged |
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What you quoted is the original version. Today, the text is modified a little bit. This is the version which is being sung today and which almost every German knows:
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht! Alles schläft, einsam wacht Nur das traute, hochheilige Paar. Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar, Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh! Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh! A literal translation would be: Silent night, holy night! All's asleep, lonely wakes Only the loving, most holy couple. Fair boy with curly hair, Sleep in heavenly rest! Sleep in heavenly rest! Edited by Josquin on 10 December 2013 at 2:51pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 4101 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 3 of 11 10 December 2013 at 1:12pm | IP Logged |
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There are plenty of Swedish and French speakers on this forum, so I'll provide the Breton version:
Nozvezh sioul, nozvezh kaer. Trouz ebet dre an aer. Aze 'barzh ul lochennig paour, Ur bugelig kousket-flour, Ur bugelig gwan, Ur bugelig gwan. Which translates roughly to: Calm night(-long), beautiful night(-long), No sound through the air , There inside a poor little cabin, A small child sleeps softly, A little weak child, A little weak child. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4360 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 4 of 11 10 December 2013 at 1:50pm | IP Logged |
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Άγια Νύχτα, σε προσμένουν
Με χαρά οι χριστιανοί Και με πίστη ανυμνούμε Το Θεό δοξολογούνε Μ’ ένα στόμα, μια φωνή Ναι με μια φωνή Η ψυχή μας φτερουγίζει Πέρα στ’ άγια τα βουνά Όπου ψάλλουν οι αγγέλοι Απ’ τα ουράνια θεία μέλη Στον Σωτήρα «Ωσαννά» Ψάλλουν «Ωσαννά» Στης Βηθλεέμ ελάτε όλοι Στα βουνά τα ιερά Και μ’ ευλάβεια μεγάλη 'Κει που τ’ άγιο φως προβάλει Προσκυνήστε με χαρά Ναι με μια χαρά Holy night, the christians wait for you with joy, and with faith we sing praises to God all in one voice Our souls fly far away on the holy mountains where the heavenly angels sing divine music to the Saviour : Osanna Everybody come to the holy mountains of Bethlehem and with great respect, where the holy light appears, jooyfully pay your respects. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Andrew C Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom naturalarabic.com Joined 5192 days ago 205 posts - 350 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written) | Message 5 of 11 10 December 2013 at 2:56pm | IP Logged |
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Lebanese Arabic
Sang by the absolute diva of the Arab world Fairouz Thank you to gbasfora for the translation. عيد الليل زهر الليل 3ayyad elleyl zahar elleyl The night feasted , the night gleamed صوت العيد ضوا الليل sawt el3aeed dawwa2 elleyl the sound of the feast brightened the night موجي يا سما بالعناقيد mouji ya sama2 bil3ana2eed Ripple oh sky with the bunch of grapes هلي بالحلى بالمواعيد helly bil7ala bilmawa3eed Come on time with sweets زار الليل يسوع zar elleyl Yasou3 Jesus visited the night لون الليل يسوع Lawan elleyl Yasou3 Jesus colored the night رايحا تزور كوخ مسحور Ray7a tzour koukh mas7our It is going to visit the enchanted hut دربها قمار تلج و زهور Darbha 2amar talj w zhour Its path is made of moonlight , snow and flowers و اللعب طايرة و يضحكوا ولاد W ella3b tayra w id7akou woulad Toys are floating and children are laughing أرضنا ناطرة و السما عياد Ardna natira w essama 3ayyad Our world is waiting and the heaven is feasting زار الليل يسوع zar elleyl Yasou3 Jesus visited the night لون الليل يسوع lawwan elleyl Yasou3 Jesus colored the night Edited by Andrew C on 10 December 2013 at 3:03pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4360 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 6 of 11 10 December 2013 at 2:59pm | IP Logged |
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What a voice.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5322 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 7 of 11 10 December 2013 at 4:34pm | IP Logged |
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How about Hawai'ian (for a translation see the Hawai'ian-English subtitles):
Pō la‘i ē, pō kamaha‘o Maluhia, mālamalama Ka makuahine aloha ē Me ke keiki hemolele ē Moe me ka maluhia lani Moe me ka maluhia lani Pō la‘i ē, pō kamaha‘o Oni nā kahu hipa ē I kō ka lani nani nō Mele nā ‘ānela haleluia Hānau ‘ia Kristo ka haku Hānau ‘ia Kristo ka haku Pō la‘i ē, pō kamaha‘o Keiki hiwahiwa aloha ē Ka lama la‘i mai luna mai Me ka lokomaika‘i makamae Iesū i kou hānau ‘ana Iesū i kou hānau ‘ana Video link Edited by Doitsujin on 10 December 2013 at 4:36pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| liammcg Senior Member Ireland Joined 4606 days ago 269 posts - 397 votes Speaks: English* | Message 8 of 11 10 December 2013 at 8:39pm | IP Logged |
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Nice idea! Here are the lyrics as we learned them in Irish:
Oíche Chiúin Oíche chiúin, oíche Mhic Dé, Cách 'na suan, dís araon, Dís is dílse ag faire le spéis, Naí beag gnaoi-gheal ceanán tais caomh Críost ina chodladh go séimh, Críost ina chodladh go séimh. Quiet night, night of God's Son, All asleep, both of the couple, The most loyal couple watching with interest, Little beautiful, bright, darling, mild and gentle infant, Christ softly asleep, Christ softly asleep. Oíche Chiúin 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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