Song - Xumar Oldum

Time to start translating more songs. We were invited to a friend's home for Novruz (March 20th - meal starting promptly at 3pm to mark the new year). We enjoyed a fabulous meal with all the traditional elements and then had an impromptu concert at the piano. (I also gave a short kamancha performance.) We sang many xalq mahnısı such as Gubanın Ağ Alması, Laçın - and songs from movies, for example, Qəmgin Mahnı. It was great fun. So, I need to get busy with new song translations. I'm feeling nice and rested after a week's vacation in Beirut. Thank-you Lebanon!

Today's song - Xumar Oldum

Again, at first the song appears straightforward, but translation is not so simple. For instance, it sounds completely normal to say "Ay qız" in Azerbaijani, but it sounds completely stupid in English. And "xumar oldum" - surely this doesn't mean "hung over"?! So, what to do? Please share your comments on my rather loose translation.

Getdim, gördüm bulaqdadır,
Ay qız, mənə bax-bax.
Ceyran, mənə bax-bax,
Əlüzünü yumaqdadır,
Ay qiz, mənə bax-bax.
Ceyran, mənə bax-bax.

I went to the spring and saw that she was there,
Hey, look my way.
Darling, send a glance my way,
She was washing her hands and her face,
Hey, look my way.
Darling, send a glance my way.

Nəqərat:
Xumar oldum, xumar oldum,
Xumar oldum, xumar.
Kətan köynək nazik bədən,
Gördüm, bihal oldum, bihal oldum,
Xumar oldum, xumar.

I am languishing, languishing,
I am languishing.
I saw her slender waist in her linen chemise,
I was undone, undone,
I am bereft.

Getdim, gördüm, bağda yatıb,
Ceyran, mənə bax-bax.
Maral, mənə bax-bax,
Qara tellər gülə batıb,
Gözəl, mənə bax-bax.
Ceyran, mənə bax-bax.

I went and saw her sleeping in the garden,
Darling, look my way.
My dear, cast a glance my way,
A flower is drowning in the dark fringe of your hair,
My beautiful one, look my way,
Darling, cast a glance my way.

Hava haqqında

The sun is shining for the second day in a row in Baku! Oh happy day. So far, the four weeks leading up to Novruz have lived up to their name - Boz Ay - the gray month. Like many people, I have been sick this winter. Many people blame the profusion of viruses on the fact that we haven't had a real snowfall. Could be. Whatever the case, it is time I worked on some new posts, so I'll start with the weather.



The seasons are qış, bahar, yay, payız (winter, spring, summer, fall).(

Various forms of precipitation are yağış, qar, sulu qar, dolu, narın yağış, şaxta (rain, snow, sleet, hail, drizzle, frost).

Types of weather include günəşli, küləkli, dumanlı, buludlu, yağmurlu, şaxtalı, sərin, soyuq, mülayim, isti, çox isti (sunny, windy, foggy, cloudy, rainy, frosty, cool, cold, mild, warm, hot).

Other weather words include iqlim, hərarət, dərəcə (climate, temperature, degree).

You can also describe the weather as yaxşı, gözəl, əla, pis, dəhşət pis (nice, beautiful, perfect, bad, really bad).

One word that I have recently learned appears frequently in weather reports - nisbətən - which means "in comparison" or "comparatively". Here are some examples from the Internet:


Fevralın 21-də ölkə ərazisində qeyri-sabit hava şəraiti davam edəcək, fevralın 22-də isə nisbətən mülayim hava şəraiti müşahidə ediləcək.= Changeable (not-constant) weather conditions will continue around the country on Feb.21, and on Feb.22 comparatively mild weather conditions will be observed.

Bakıda yağış yağacaq, temperatur nisbətən enəcək. = In Baku it will rain, the temperature in comparison (to today) will fall.

Azərbaycan ərazisində havanın temperaturu nisbətən yüksələcək. = The air temperature will rise comparatively around Azerbaijan.


Sabah Azərbaycan ərazisində nisbətən sabit, yağmursuz hava şəraiti proqnozlaşdırılır. = Tomorrow around Azerbaijan it will be comparatively stable, and the forecast is not calling for rain.

I was beginning to wonder if this word is only used for weather! But then I found this sentence:

Əvvəlki illərə nisbətən subsidiya alanların sayı azalıb. = In comparison to previous years, the number of people getting subsidies has diminished.