#3 - Tormis: "Lauliku Lapsepõli / The Singer's Childhood" - TEXT GUIDE

The text of "Lauliku Lapsepõli" is from the Estonian folk tradition.

Pronunciation (solo verses only): Only the soloists sing in Estonian; choir singers have neutral vowels!!

a, aa = ah (ah-ha!)
þ = cat
e = eh (let)
i = ee (be)
o, oo = oh (only)
ö = sir
õ = aw
u =oo (root0
ü = say 'ee' while shaping lips to 'oo'

When two vowels occur in one syllable -- and on one note -- split the note in half and give even stress to each vowel.
These duple vowels are indicated below by a / mark: "kui" = koo/ee. All R's are rolled/flipped.
Every verse has the "allea, allea" refrain. To save space below, it's written only in v.1.

v.1

Kui ma ol- li väi- ko- kõ- nõ, al- le- a, al- le- a,
koo/ee mah oh lee vä/ee koh kaw naw ah leh ah ah leh ah
When I was a newborn baby, al'leaa, al'leaa;

 

kas- vi ma sis kau- ni- kõ- nõ
kass vee mah cease kah/oo nee kaw naw
growing very nicely, al'leaa, al'leaa.

v.2

ol- li ü- te üü van-n nu // pää- le ka- tõ pää- vä van nu
oh lee ü teh ü vah-n noo // pä leh keh- taw pä- vä vahn noo
Only one night old // or two days old,


v.3

i-mä vei kü- gu ke- sä pää- le // pan- de häl- lü pa- lo pää- le
ee-mä veh/ee kü- koo keh- sä pä- leh // pahn- deh hä- lü pah- loh pä- leh
Mother took my cradle out to the field // and set it in the warm meadow.

v.4

pan- de pard- si häl- lü- tä-m mä // su- võ- lin- nu lii- gu- ta-m ma
pah- ndeh pahrd see hä lü- tah-m mä // soo vaw lee noo lee koo tah-m mah
She got a duck to rock it // and a summerbird to swing it.

v.5

Pard- sil ol- le pal- lo sõ-n nu // su- võ- lin- nul lii- a laa- lu
pahrd seel oh leh pah loh saw-n noo // soo vaw lee nool lee ah lah loo
The duck had many words / and the summer bird too many songs.

v.6

Parts sääl man mul pal- lo la-u li // su- vö- lin- du lii- ast kõ-nõ- li
pahrt säl mahn mool pah loh lah-oo lee // soo vö leen doo lee ahst kaw-naw lee
There the duck sang a lot beside me // the summer bird talked too much.

All soloists:
Säält mi-na lats sis lau- lu-- o- pe // ul- li- kõ- nõ sõ- na o-sa- si
sält mee-nah lahts cease lah/oo loo oh peh // oo lee kaw naw saw nah oh-sah see
And I, the child, learned and learned // I, the little one, picked up the songs.

 

Kõik mi-na pan- ni pa- põ- ri- he// kõik mi-na rai- õ raa- ma- tu- he,
kaw/eek mee-nah pah nee pah paw ree heh // kaw/eek mee-nah rah/ee aw rah mah too heh
I put everything down on paper // I wrote everything into the book,

v.7

Sel- le mi- nol pal- lo sö-n nu // sel- le laa- jalt laa- lu- vii- si
seh leh mee nohl pah loh saw-n noo // sehl leh lah yalt lah loo vee see
From this book, I have many words / from this book, I am rich in tunes.

 


Copyright © 2002, M. Dolan.