| Latvian song | Free translation | Word-for-word translation |
|---|---|---|
| Nu, tētiņ, *ziemas svētki
Sēsties galda galiņā; Dod **kalpiem kalpa loni, Meitām baltas villainītes. | Father, it is *Christmas now
Sit at the head of the table; Give the **farm-hands their wages Give each girl a new white shawl. | now father-dim.voc.sg. *winter-gen.sg. festivities-nom.pl.
sit-refl.infin. table-gen.sg. end-dim.loc.sg. give-2nd.p.sg.imp. **servants-dat.pl. servant-gen.sg. wage-acc.sg. girl-dat.pl. white-fem.acc.pl. shawl-dim.acc.pl. |
| Ziemas svētki atbraukuši
Rakstītām %kamanām; %%Eit' laukā, $saimenieki Saņemat ziemas svētkus. | Christmas has arrived
In a decorated %sleigh; Go outside, $master and mistress And welcome Christmas in. | winter-gen.sg. festivities-nom.pl. hither-drive-masc.pst.act.ppl.nom.pl.
ornamented-fem.dat.pl. %sleigh-dat.pl. %%go-imp.(2nd.p.pl.) field-loc.sg. $host-masc.nom.pl. welcome-imp.2nd.p.pl. winter-gen.sg. festivities-acc.pl. |
| Bagāti ziemas svētki
No Rīgas nāca: Trīs simti $$sulaiņi Bruņnot līdz. | Wealthy Christmas
Has come from Rīga: Bringing three hundred $$Men-at-arms along. | wealthy-masc.nom.pl. winter-gen.sg. festivities-nom.pl.
from Rīga-gen.sg. come-pst.3rd.p. three hundred-nom.pl. $$lackey-nom.pl. armed-nom.pl. with |
| %%Eita, bērni, skatīties
Kas pa namu buldurē; Ziemas svētki namu slauka Visus traukus cilādami. | Children, go and look
Who is chattering in the house; Christmas it is, sweeping out the house Lifting up every single dish and plate. | go-imp.2nd.p.pl. child-nom.pl. look-(at)-refl.inf.
who-nom.sg. in building-acc.sg. chatter-pres.3rd.p. winter-gen.sg. festivities-nom.pl. building-acc.sg. sweep-pres.3rd.p. all-masc.acc.pl. dish-acc.pl. lift-masc.pres.act.ppl.pl. |
| Vai, lielie ziemas svētki,
Puiši trekni, zirgi vāji; Puišiem alus, brandavīns Zirgiem tukšas redelītes. | Oh my, Christmas time
The lads are fat, the horses lean; The lads get beer and whiskey But the hay racks are empty. | alas great-def.nom.pl. winter-gen.sg. festivities-nom.pl.
lad-nom.pl. fat-masc.nom.pl. horse-nom.pl. weak-masc.nom.pl. lad-dat.pl. beer-nom.sg. whiskey-nom.sg. horse-dat.pl. empty-fem.nom.pl. rack-dim.nom.pl. |
| &Iesam, bērni, &&čigānos,
Ziemassvētku vakarā; Dos mums ēst, dos mums dzert, Dos naksniņnu pārgulēt. | Children, let's go &&mummering,
On Christmas Eve; They'll give us food and drink, And put us up for the night. | &go-imp.1st.p.pl. children-voc.pl. &&gypsy-loc.pl.
winter-gen.sg. festivities-gen.pl. evening-loc.sg. give-fut.3rd.p. us-dat.pl. eat-inf. give-fut.3rd.p. us-dat.pl. drink-inf. give-fut.3rd.p. night-dim.acc.sg. pass-night-inf. |
* Although I have translated it as "Christmas", the Latvian term ziemas svētki literally means: "winter holiday" or "festivities of winter".
** The word kalps is often translated "servant". However, it is also the word which is used to mean (male) farm-hands. The female version (kalpone) usually meant (female) house servant.
% The word kamanas always occurs in the plural. Thus, it could mean "sleigh" or "sleighs".
%% The word eita or eit' is an archaic (or dialectal) form of the verb meaning "to go". The modern standard second person plural imperative would be: ejat.
$ I've chosen to translate the word saimenieki as "master and mistress", because it sounds more natural in English to use these terms when directly addressing someone. However, "hosts" would be just as good a translation.
$$ The word sulainis could mean "servant, lackey, footman" or "valet". However, since footmen and valets usually don't come armed, I've chosen to translate the phrase bruņoti sulaiņi as "men-at-arms".
& The word iesam is an archaic (or dialectal) form. The modern standard first person plural imperative would be iesim.
&& The word čiganos literally means "into the gypsies". The phrase could, therefore, be translated as "to go gypsying". However, this phrase is most often used to refer to the tradition of Christmas mumming or mummering, and I have so translated it.
To see the explanation of the grammatical abbreviations used in the "word-for-word" translations, go to → Grammatical Abbreviations
Country of Latvia | Travel in Latvia | Latvian Language | History of Latvia | Latvian Cuisine | Latvian Folklore and Folk Costumes | Latvian Music, Songs, and Dances
Last revised September 16, 2008