Kantåyi Gui'

It has been two weeks of non-stop Chamorro Christmas songs in my classes, all in preparation for tonight's Puengen Minagof Nochebuena at UOG. One of the toughest songs we've been tackling is "Annai i Niño" also known as "Kantåyi gui'." In honor of December being the season not just for Christmas but also Star Wars, I always tease my students using the equivalent of dumb Chamorro Star Wars dad jokes. After struggling through the difficult tune for the verses, whenever the students come in strong for the chorus and sing loudly "Kantåyi gui'!" I respond, "Maolek! The Kantåyi is strong with this one." As a back up, in case they aren't cringing to death already, I might throw in "ti este na Kantåyi ta espipiha" or "This is not the kantåyi we are looking for."

******************

Annai i Niño minida as Maria

(When Mary clothed the infant)

Ya nina’ åsson gi hilo’ ngåsan

(and made Him lie on the straw)

Kinantåye gue’ man mames na kånta

(She sang Him sweet songs)

Para u måffong gue’ gi maigo’-ña.

(to make Him sleep soundly.)


Kantåye gue’ sa’ kumekekasao

(Sing to Him, because He is about to cry)

Kantåye gue’ para u nina’ maigo’.

(Sing to Him, so that He can be put to sleep.)


Estague’ i Niño na mafañågo

(Here the Child is born)

ni i sinangan i anghet Gabriel

(as the angel Gabriel said)

Para u såtba hit todos gi isao

(to save us all from sin)

para u konne’ hit guato gi langet.

(and to take us over to heaven.)


Maila’ hao mågi ya hu toktok hao Niño

(Come here infant and I will embrace you)

Ya hu chiko todo i addeng-mo

(and I will kiss both your feet)

Sa’ un goggue i taotao siha gi isao

(because you save the people from sin)

Pot i dangkulun mina’ase’-mo.

(because of your great mercy.)


Ma’lak na estreyas gumigia guato

(Bright stars guide there)

I Tres Reyes ni manaotao kåttan

(the Three Kings, people from the east)

Para u ma adora i Niño Jesus

(to adore the Child Jesus)

Ya ma nå’e regålo-ña guaguan

(and give Him precious gifts.)


Ma’lak na oro, insensio yan mira

(Shiny gold, incense and myrrh)

I mana’i-ña i Niño Jesus

(are the Child Jesus’ gifts)

Guato guihe gi i liyang gå’ga’

(There in the animals’ cave)

Nai mafañågo i Låhen Yu’us.

(where the Son of God was born.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chamoru Love Sayings

Image
A student from my Zoom Chamoru classes recently asked me for some suggestions for some Chamoru sayings or words of wisdom that she could use for a speech she had to give for a friend's wedding.  I get this type of request pretty frequently and so over the years I have a number of lists of ways to say "I Love You" in Chamoru. For years that was one of the my most visited pages on this blog, a simple page that had more than a dozen different ways to say "Hu Guaiya Hao" ranging from the poetic and deep, to the silly and sexy.  When I looked at many of those lists, I realized that the majority of the ways love was expressed, was indeed written in Chamoru, but not necessarily rooted in Chamoru. What I mean by this, is that alot of the sayings were simply translated from English or variants of ways that love would be expressed in English.  For me, I am definitely in support of these sorts of things, I love having our language adapt and take on new forms, especially wh
Read more

Chamorro Public Service Post #15: Pues Adios, Esta Ki

A lot of people end up visiting this blog because they are searching around the internet for lyrics to Chamorro songs. Over the years I’ve pasted a couple here and there, but haven’t really kept up with it as much as I should. I complain all the time about there not being enough internet presence for the Chamorro language and for Chamorro thoughts and so I feel bad when I inadvertently contribute to that absence. På’go, gaige yu’ gi i gima’ iyo-ku grandfather. Desde i ma’pos’ña na mes, kumakatre gui’. Kana’ hineart attack gui’, ya sumaga’ gui’ gi i espitåt para tres meses. Mana’huyong gi i ma’pos na mes, ya sumåsaga’ gui’ gi i gima’, lao ti ha hulat tumohgue sin ayuda. Kada na puengge måtto yu’ gi i gima’-ña para i tetno-hu pumulan gui’. Gi este na tiempo, tåya’ internet, pues siña hu usa este para bai hu fanhasso. Manhasso yu’ put i lina’la’-hu pat i guinife-hu. Buente i chinathinasso-ku siha lokkue’. Tonight, I was trying to figure out what would be the best song to share the lyrics
Read more

Tuleti

Image
I was racking my brain recently to determine what was the first ever Chamorro song that was featured in a motion picture. Noon Sunday was the first every motion picture to be filmed primarily on Guam, prior to that some minor filming had been done on Guam for World War II and Godzilla films but nothing substantial. Noon Sunday was not set in Guam, but it was the first film to feature extensively the island of Guam. Guam was the locale for a fictional Pacific island that was being taken over by a menacing Asian power. Almost all the speaking roles went to people from off-island (from the US or the Philippines), and Chamorros ended up playing most of the "extra" roles. As a result the film didn't feature any Chamorro music. You do find documentaries and television programs, all locally produced that feature Chamorro songs of at least Chamorros singing songs. Guam's History Through Songs, made by the late Carmen Santos is a perfect example of this. For those of you u
Read more