Orin: The Song Genres
Yoruba song across work, ritual, nursing, children's play and social comment, with texts, and the problem of translating a song so that it can still be sung.
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Yoruba song across work, ritual, nursing, children's play and social comment, with texts, and the problem of translating a song so that it can still be sung.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Orin na di general Yoruba word for song, and e no be like di chanted genres wey be say na only specialists get am. Everybody dey sing. Song dey follow work, to nurse baby, play, worship, mourning, marriage and when people dey settle scores, and na im be di part of Yoruba oral art wey get di widest participation and di lowest barrier to enter.
Di difference between am and di chanted genres dey real and di tradition clearly separate dem. Ìjálá, ẹ̀sà, rárà and di rest na chanted dem dey chant am, for clear vocal styles wey dem describe for yoruba-oral-genre-system, and na people wey don learn am dey sing dem. Orin na song wey dem dey sing with melody, many times with call-and-response, and person no need any special training or license to perform am. As di chanted genres mostly no dey danceable and dem mostly no dey follow am with drum, songs dey often get di two .
Di most common way wey children take dey encounter orin na inside àlọ́ àpagbè, di folktale wey get song inside, wey dem treat for file 08. Di name itself mean call-and-response story, and di way e dey work na say di storyteller go lead while di audience go take di chorus .
Structurally, di song dey do specific work inside di narrative. E dey mark di moments wey di story wan make people remember, and because di audience dey sing am instead of just listening to am, na dose moments dey survive. Yoruba adult wey no fit tell di whole story again go usually still fit sing di song, wey be correct description of wetin dem design di form to do.
Orin ìrẹ́mọ́lékún na lullaby, literally di song to stop pikin from crying, wey nursing mothers dey use make baby sleep .
Original (as dem print am, without diacritics)
Ọmọ-ọn mi o akurubetekube. Ọmọ-ọn mi o akuru bete kube. Bi oo ku o maa raso fun o. Bi oo ku maa raya okan. Aya okan la fi n somo loge. Ọmọ-ọn mi akurubetekube.
My little young baby. My little vibrant baby. If you live, I will buy you clothes. If you do not die, I will buy you coral beads. Coral beads are what we adorn a child with. My little young baby.
Translator: Oladele Caleb Orimoogunje
Yoruba text and English translation as Orimoogunje print am, wey e give as dialectal variant of di version wey dey inside Ogundeji 1991 p. 98 . Di source print di Yoruba without tone mark or subdot and na so dem reproduce am here; di literal word-for-word explanation na from di compiler.
Di condition na di main point and e dey easy to miss: bí o ò kú, if you no die. Lullaby wey dey promise pikin cloth and coral beads on top condition say make di pikin survive dey talk directly to di matter of infant mortality wey produce di àbíkú belief wey dem treat for yoruba-ibeji and for di naming file. Di reason wey Orimoogunje give why dem talk am like dis na say Yoruba people believe say babies dey understand wetin dem dey talk even before dem start to speak, and say pikin inner self get control over im own health and willingness to live, so dat di mother good wishes go reach and get agreement from di pikin inner self . Di song na negotiation with di baby im orí, e no be just noise to make pikin calm down. yoruba-ori treat di concept. Di published English tone down akurubetekube to "little young" and "little vibrant"; na ideophone wey im sound dey do most of di work, and no English word fit carry di full meaning.
Pregnant women and nursing mothers dey sing together for health centre dem, and Orimoogunje record di natal songs wey dem dey sing for there .
Original (as dem print am, without diacritics)
Oluwa ma je n fobe bimo, Oluwa ma je n fobe bimo. Keje ma po, Je komi o to. Oluwa ma je n fobe bimo.
Lord, do not let me give birth by the knife, Lord, do not let me give birth by the knife. May I not bleed too much, may my waters be sufficient. Lord, do not let me give birth by the knife.
Translator: Oladele Caleb Orimoogunje
Yoruba text and English translation as Orimoogunje print am ; literal word-for-word explanation na from di compiler.
Fọbẹ bímọ, to born pikin with knife, na caesarean section, and di published translation call am directly. Di song na contemporary one instead of ancient: dem dey sing am for modern clinic dem, e dey address Olúwa, and e dey talk about surgery to born pikin. E dey show say di genre dey do wetin e don always dey do, to carry immediate fear put for form wey group fit sing together. Di way Orimoogunje understand am na say di belief say delivery date dey for Olódùmarè hand dey give di singer courage and dey comot di fear of wetin person no know .
Dem dey give twins special honour for Yoruba culture at a level wey link to di highest rate of born twins for di whole world, and dem get dia own collection of song and praise poetry. yoruba-ibeji inside 06-orisa treat twins as religious and social institution, and yoruba-arts treat di ère ìbejì figures.
Di scholarly resource for di songs na Val Ọlayẹmi's Orin Ìbejì (Songs in Praise of Twins), wey be transcription and translation in Yoruba and English wey dem keep for Smithsonian and Stanford , and Amanda Villepastour chapter "Orin Ìbejì (Song for the Twins): Sounding the Sacred Twins of the Yorùbá" . Di compiler no fit get any of di two, so no ìbejì song text dey presented here, and any reader wey wan see dem suppose check Ọlayẹmi.
Wetin person fit talk without text. Na ìyá ìbejì, dat na mama of twins, dey sing songs and oríkì for twins, and normally na when dem carry di children or di ère figures, and for some records na when dem dey waka from house to house, wetin make di practice dey inside di same family wit rárà: woman wey dey praise person and dey collect gifts. Di genre na praise form instead of lullaby, and di material na oríkì, so yoruba-oriki describe di structure. Di praise name wey people know pass na Èjìrẹ́, and di names Táíwò and Kẹ́hìndé, wey dem treat for yoruba-ibeji, na short form of praise by demselves.
Play songs na big body of material and na dem people study least. Bolanle Sogunro study about how to translate dem bring out one point wey dey important for dis whole section: compared wit folktales, Yoruba play and game songs never get much attention or resources, and di translations wey dey ground normal-normal no get di Yoruba flavour and di socio-cultural nuance, and plenty times person no fit sing dem, wetin be functional failure and no be just aesthetic problem .
Ẹkùn mẹ́ran mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀! Ó dorí kogbó mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀! Ó dorí kodàn mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀! Ẹkùn mẹ́ran mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀! Ó ṣe é mú o mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀! Ó ṣàì mú o mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀! Ojú ẹkùn ń pọ́n, Ìrù ẹkùn ńle. Ó gbé e, kò ì gbé e, Logolo, bẹ̀rẹ̀ gbé e.
Idiomatic English (Di Èyí Mú version)
The leopard catches a goat, mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀, it turns to the bush, mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀, the leopard catches a goat, mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀, it's able to catch it, mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀, it's able to catch it, mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀, the leopard looks fierce, its tail tightens up, it has caught it, it hasn't caught it, Logologo the tall one, bend down and catch it.
Translator: Di Èyí Mú compiler, as Bolanle Sogunro cite am
Yoruba text and di two English translations wey dey compete as Sogunro print dem, from Mama Lisa's World site and from Di Èyí Mú, one compilation wey dem never publish of translated Yoruba games and songs for children .
Sogunro compare di two English versions and di comparison get wetin e dey teach :
Di Mama Lisa version translate di goat cry as bàáà. Wetin Sogunro no gree wit be say Yoruba goats no dey cry like dat: bàá na English nursery convention, from "baa baa black sheep", while Yoruba goat dey cry mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀, so di translation just quietly change Yoruba sound put English sound and spoil di cultural expression . Di Di Èyí Mú version keep mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀ and hold di flavour.
On di other hand, Mama Lisa "the leopard's eyes are red" beta pass Di Èyí Mú "the leopard looks fierce", because e close pass to how Nigerian English dey actually sound and because na sharp image where "fierce" na just abstract idea . None of di translations win completely, and dat na di honest result.
Na di corpus translation rule be dis from di person wey dey do di work side. yoruba-translation-and-bias argue say translation choices dey carry ideology; Sogunro show di same ting for di level of onomatopoeia for children game, where changing mẹ̀ẹ́ẹ̀ to baa na small act of cultural replacement wey nobody plan to do.
Another constraint dey wey follow song specifically. Translation must be someting wey person fit sing, wetin require musico-verbal fit: syllable count, rhythm, intonation and stress wey match di melody . Translation wey get di meaning right but get di syllable count wrong no fit dey performed, and for genre wey exist only when dem perform am, dat one na complete failure. Sogunro use Franzon five translation choices and find out say most of di Yoruba play-song translations wey dey ground fall inside di category of translating lyrics without thinking about di music, and because of dat, person no fit perform dem .
Ta ló wà nínú ọgbà náà? Ọmọ kékeré kan ni. Ṣé è ń wá wò ó? Má wàá wò ó. Tèlé mi ká lọ.
Idiomatic English (di popular version wey person fit sing)
Who is in the garden? A little fine girl. Can I come and see her? No, no, no. Follow me.
Translator: Popular playground version, as Bolanle Sogunro cite am
Yoruba and di two English versions as Sogunro print dem .
Sogunro analysis of "a little fine girl" dey important to record because e defend wetin no dey accurate. Di phrase no be word-for-word translation of ọmọ kékeré kan ni, wey no talk whether di pikin fine or whether na boy or girl. But "fine girl" na Nigerian English, person fit sing am, and e capture whole cultural theme: di courtship tradition where suitor family go visit girl parents say dem see fine flower for di family ọgbà, since nobody dey ask politely like dat to see young man for im papa house . Di Yoruba leave di gender make person understand am from di situation; di English add am. Dat one na translation choice wey person fit defend and na real addition, and reader suppose see di two facts clearly.
Di other detail wey Sogunro notice na di three-time "no, no, no", wey no dey inside di Yoruba Má wàá wò ó but e show how children dey actually talk and e give di line im beat .
Sogunro point out one case where di direction of translation likely be di reverse of wetin people dey assume. Di familiar Orí mi, èjìká, oókún, ẹsẹ̀ (my head, shoulders, knees, feet) very likely na English original wey dem translate go Yoruba, based on di evidence of im exact syllable matching and im Christian closing line . No be everything wey Yoruba children dey sing for Yoruba be Yoruba traditional song, and mission schools and churches na big source of di repertoire.
Work song na di category wey dem least document for here and this corpus no go fill di gap with wetin dem invent. Wetin person fit talk accurately: singing dey accompany collective labour, farming, pounding, grinding, paddling and building, and im function na to coordinate rhythm and make di time bearable, wey be wetin common to work song everywhere. Specific Yoruba work-song texts with reliable transcriptions na wetin this compiler no locate for open sources, and instead of to offer lines wey no get attribution, e no present any. Di field recordings wey dem list for sources-audio-visual na di route to di actual material.
Each òrìṣà get im own songs, and dem overlap heavily with oríkì. 06-orisa dey treat di individual divinities and yoruba-music-instruments-and-drum-language dey treat di ensembles wey dey accompany dem, including di ìgbìn drums of Ọbàtálá and di bàtá of Ṣàngó. Di Bascom Folkways recordings of 1951, wey dem document for sources-audio-visual, na field recordings of this material inside context.
Di satirical and social-control songs of Egúngún and di Ẹfẹ̀ night of Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ na wetin dem treat for file 12, since dem form distinct system.
Beyond di masquerade context, ordinary social satire inside song na living Yoruba practice. Market women, age-grade societies and neighbours dey compose songs about people wey behave badly, and di sanction na say di song go circulate. Etíyerí, di satirical chant, na named genre inside di classification of chant forms , and di same impulse inside sung form dey everywhere.
Di practice continue inside contemporary popular music, where di composed insult, di subtweet inside song, and di praise-for-payment all descend from these forms. File 14 follow that line.
The evening storytelling tradition, the call-and-response frame that opens it, riddles as a separate discipline, and the Ìjàpá cycle read as a body of ethical and comic literature.
The satirical song traditions of the masquerade societies, especially the all-night Ẹfẹ̀ performance in which named individuals are held to account, and the wider Yoruba institution of licensed abuse.
How Yoruba verbal art is classified into named genres by vocal manner rather than subject, who performs each and on what occasion, and why the European category "oral literature" fits the material imperfectly.
Yoruba twins, the highest twinning rate in the world, the ere ibeji figure carved when a twin dies, and the reversal from infanticide to veneration.
The dùndún as a literary instrument rather than a technical curiosity: oríkì and proverbs delivered on the drum, what the drummer composes from, and how drummed, sung and spoken text relate in one performance.
The hunters' chant associated with Ògún, its vocal manner, the ìjálá artist and how he is judged, the contest setting, and what the chant does as self-portrait and as praise of animals.