| Latvian song | Free translation | Word-for-word translation |
|---|---|---|
| Es savam brālīšam Skaistu kreklu izrakstīju: Lai tas manīm linus deva Pilnu pūru pielocīt. |
I made my brother a linen shirt With beautiful embroidery: So he'd give me lots of flax To fill my dowry chest up full. | I-nom.sg. own-dat.sg. brother-dim.dat.sg. beautiful-acc.sg. shirt-acc.sg. embroider-pst.1st.p.sg. so that-one-nom.sg. me-dat.sg. flax-acc.pl. give-pst.3rd.p. full-acc.sg. dower-chest-acc.sg. fill-inf. |
| Viena pate es māsiņa Man deviņi bālēliņi; Man deviņi bālēliņi Kā tie rīta auseklīši. | Only one sister am I, But nine brothers do I have; Nine brothers do I have Each looks like the Morning Star. |
one-fem.nom.sg. self-fem.nom.sg. I-nom.sg. sister-dim.nom.sg. me-dat.sg. nine-nom.pl. brother-nom.pl. me-dat.sg. nine-nom.pl. brother-nom.pl. as they-nom.sg. morning-gen.sg. morning-star-dim.nom.pl. |
| Īstais brālīti, Ved māsu dancot, Trīs reizes apgriež, Dod tautu rokās! | Brother, take your sister dancing Take her out and dance with her Twirl her, spin her, three times and then Give her hand to the suitors and beaux. | real-def.nom.sg. brother-dim.voc.sg.-i lead-2nd.p.sg.imp. sister-acc.sg. dance-inf. three time-acc.pl. turn-around-2nd.p.sg.imp. give-2nd.p.sg.imp. (strange) folk-gen.pl. hand-loc.pl. |
| Mauc, brālīt, baltus cimdus, Ved māsiņu dancināt, Lai māsai baltas avis, Visu mūžu dzīvojot. |
Put on your white gloves, brother, Take your sister dancing, So your sister's sheep will be, White as well, her whole life long. | put-on-2nd.p.sg.-imp. brother-dim.voc.sg. white-masc.acc.pl. glove-acc.pl. lead-2nd.p.sg.imp. sister-dim.acc.sg. dance-caus.inf. so-that sister-dat.sg. white-fem.acc.pl. sheep-acc.pl. all-acc.sg. life(span)-acc.sg. live-indecl.ppl. |
To see the explanation of the grammatical abbreviations used in the "word-for-word" translations, go to → Grammatical Abbreviations
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Last revised September 20, 2008