Arşın mal alan - Gülçöhrənin nəğməsi

This song frankly defeats me. What is this cida??? It can't mean "pike". That just doesn't make sense. And why are so many of these words not even in the dictionary? Someone please explain!

№ 14. Gülçöhrənin nəğməsi.

Bülbüli-zarəm gülü ruxsari alindən cida;
Tutiyi laləm şəkər nisbət məqalindən cida – 2
Der idim səbr eylərəm, olsam camalından cida, – 2
Bilmədim dişvar imiş olmaq vüsalindən cida, – 2
Ax!.. aman, aman, aman, aman, canım.
Aman, yarım aman;
Bilmədim dişvar imiş olmaq vüsalindən cida, – 2
Yar gəl, yar gəl, yar gəl, yar gəl!
Əqlimi tərk eylədim fəzli kəmalından cida.
Dönmüşəm mən müflisə cahi cəlalından cida – 2
Tirə oldu ruzigarım zülfü xalından cida.
Ax!.. aman, aman, aman, aman, canım aman, yarım aman;
Oldu səhra mənzilim vəhşi qəzalindən cida. – 2
Yar gəl, yar gəl, yar gəl, yar gəl.

Arşın mal alan - Gülçöhrənin naləsi

This lament is sung by Gulchora in the culminating tragic moment before the "cloth peddler" rescues her. It  has got to be one of the saddest and most powerful songs ever written. In fact, every time I listen to it, tears stream down my face. Every time! Even before I knew what the lyrics meant...! Now that I understand the lyrics, it is inevitable that I cry at this beautiful song. The composer, it seems obvious to me, was a great supporter of women and their right to choose not only their "heyət yoldaşi" but also their role in life.  

I was so pleased to find the lyrics online. Visit http://arshin.musigi-dunya.az/ for the full libretto and other information in both Azerbaijani and English. To listen to a beautiful rendition, click this link: 

http://arshin.musigi-dunya.az/audio/az/arshin_Gul2.mp3

Below are the lyrics and my humble attempt at translation.

№ 20. Gülçöhrənin naləsi. 

Hicran dərdi, fələk verdi – 2
Bunca cəfanı layiq gördü – 2
Yoxdur taqət səbrə halət, – 2
Ölmək yaxşıdır nə ki, bu zillət – 2
Ey xuda rəhm et, ey xuda rəhm et,
Qıl mədəd yarəb, mən yazığa rəhm et.
Ey xuda rəhm et, ey xuda rəhm et,
Qıl mədəd yarəb, mən yazığa, rəhm et.

Yox, mən bu hala davam edə bilmərəm. Daha məndə tab və taqət yoxdur. Hamısından yaxşısı budur ki, bir kərəlik özümü boğum, öldürüm. Canım qurtarsın.

Gulchora’s lament.

Fate has brought me this terrible separation

This torment it has deemed will be my lot

I have no strength or patience left

Better to die than to suffer like this

O God help me, help me,

Dear Lord save me, have mercy on me.

No, I simply can’t go on. I have no more strength or endurance. Better to hang myself and end it all. 

From the film.

"O olmasın, bu olsun" - Birinci Pərdə - 3

Sənəm - Ax, deyəsən ağa gəlir.
Oh, it seems that the master has come.

Sərvər - Gülnaz, hələ ki, xudahafiz. Sən mən deyəndən çıxma, atana başqa söz demə.
Now Gulnaz, good-bye. Follow what I have told you to do, don't say anything to your father.

Gülnaz - Xudahafiz.
Good-bye.

Sərvər gedir.

Server leaves.

"O olmasın, bu olsun" - Birinci Pərdə - 2

Sənəm - Bircə o gün ola idi ki, sizin toyunuzda süzə-süzə oynaya idim.
If only the day would come when I could dance at your wedding.

Sərvər - İnşaallah, bu yaxında oynarsan.
God willing, you will dance soon.

Sənəm - Necə? Yaxında toy eyləyirsənmi?
How? Are you getting married soon?

"O olmasın, bu olsun!" - Birinci Pərdə - 1

I am only doing the dialogue from this scene because the song uses very old words or foreign words that I can't find in the dictionary. The first scene is a conversation between the young lovers.

Gülnaz - Sərvər, bu gün səni çox kefsiz görürəm, nə olub məgər?
Server, you seem in low spirits today. What's wrong?

Sərvər - Doğru deyirsən, mən dünəndən bəridir ki, fikirdəyəm.
You're right. Since yesterday I have been lost in thought.

Kon-Tiki və mən - New bilingual publication

A new publication from Azerbaijan International. You can order copies from their website here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18071830

The book is a bilingual translation of the original work by Erik Hesselberg, which was published in Norwegian in 1949 as Kon-Tiki og jeg.

The book is published for children, so the language is not so difficult for an English learner of Azerbaijani. The story is interesting and told in a breezy, informal style. There are original drawings throughout. What is most exciting about this publication is that it seems to be the first of many more - one hopes! The book is labelled as "Children's Books Series, Vol.1" - "Uşaq kitabları silsiləsi, İ cild". Let's hope we see more soon.

Two Things To Know Well If You Study Azerbaijani

All languages have something in terms of their grammar or vocabulary that if one understands well, communicating becomes much better and easier. Azerbaijani has two of them. One is the  rule of harmony and the other is the system of endings or suffixes.

The Rule or Law of Harmony defines what vowels follow one another in words and how they do that. Understanding it is very important because it helps one to know why most suffixes have two or four forms, and what form goes with what word. It also gives you clues about the origin of words which matters when you are not sure whether a suffix should be joined at the end of word or at the beginning. As an example let’s look at the plural ending -lar, -lər.

Examples: Kitablar = books. Evlər = houses. How about the plural of “dahi” (genius) does it take “-lar” or “-lər”? The only way to find out that is to learn the rule of harmony.   

Suffixes matter too due to the fact that almost all words connect and make sentences through them. Even the simplest possible sentences require suffixes and it is common for a word to take three or even four endings. Unless you know suffixes and their features it might be difficult for native speakers to understand you. Sometimes, by adding one or two suffixes to a word you can express a whole sentence. Here is an example.

Biz = we

Biz+im = our

Bizim+ki = ours (as in “this book is ours”)

Bizimki+lər = our (indicates plurality of objects that belong to us as in our books)

Bizimkilər+dən = from ours

Bizimkilərdən+dir = It is from us. (It is from that which belongs to us.)

Bizimkilərdəndir+mi = Is it from us?  (Is it from that which belongs to us?)

We have one root and six endings in this word.

So, learn these two well and Azerbaijani will become easy.

Guest Author,
Alef