Deciphering unknown languages with Michele Gorini

Today we have a somewhat famous Xhosa song, Qongqothwane | Knock-knock beetle , aka "The click song". I already posted the song here before this blog existed, and now I decided to move the analysis here. Alright, so: "Igqirha lendlela nguqongqothwane": Igqirha is found to be the singular form of the noun meaning "traditional doctor" at the Xhosa dictionary , and my Quora helper glosses it as "witchdoctor". I guess "diviner" could do. That is the Wikipedia take on this word. Lendlela is le-, "of", + -ndlela, root of a noun meaning "road". Nguqongqothwane is ngu-, "he's", a subject prefix for an opportune third person singular, + -qongqothwane, root of the name of this beetle which emits a characteristic knock-knock sound which the clicks in the name imitate. This beetle's passing is considered a good omen, which is why this song is sung at weddings. Cfr. Wikipedia on the beetles. So the first...

Today we have a song suggested to me by my advisor, namely Mike , "Female friend". Here's the Google-Musixmatch lyrics, which were my starting point, with a correction (see below), sided with this translation : *Hey ti mike Ditën kur më the se ike Zërin dhe shpirtin ma fike E kam ditë ti nuk vjen mo Ti shkove Në qytet tjetër u ndodhe Dhe gjysmën time e more E kam ditë nuk vjen mo Ai s'din sa du Me kë rrin me ditë sa du Ku je tash me ditë sa du #Si ndalum ditët ikën Asnjëherë me nuk u lidhën Jemi rritë tani my baby Ndonjeherë më merr Malli për ty më merr O sa shumë më merr Historia na ndau Po sikur ne të ishim bashkë A thu do ishim dashtë... * Drinking the night away All the memories I replay I kërkoj por ty nuk të gjej # M'ki pas 2000 puthje ngat Tash m'ki 2000 puthje larg 2000 puthje larg Tik, tik, tik, tik-tak Zemrës mos i jep ti attack Ooo nah nah Vetë ti ike e na le nah nah Afër meje mo nuk je nah nah Po du me ditë...

So today I have a funny story for y'all. One day, I was making a list of my videos on Youtube, both posted and to be made (and it's lying there waiting to be finished), and I saw a copyright claim. The contested video was this one , and the claim was for… a Vietnamese song. What? I was singing a Chinese song… welp, turns out that Chinese song was a Chinese version of this Vietnamese one , and today, with the lyrics from here , we're trying to decipher it. So lyrics, sided with Google Translation: Từng giọt mưa long lanh xôn xao Để mộng mơ trong em bay cao Em đâu biết tình này dạt dào Phố xá thênh thang dáng ai về mơ lúc vai kề Vẫn thấy miên man từng đêm những cơn mê. Nhẹ nhàng ru trong đêm thâu Lung linh cơn mưa ngâu Mưa gieo mãi làm gì giọt sầu Hỡi trái tim cô đơn lạc loài hãy nở nụ cười Để thấy quanh em tình yêu vẫn có đôi. Đặt bàn tay lên khoé môi chiếc hôn vẫn xa vời Đêm vẫn lạnh lùng dù qua phố đông Người yêu ơi em biết không vẫn say đắm trong lòng Dù...

This post starts a series of kinda-nonstandard posts in which I go over the Russian songs from the CL songbook, giving different versions, including the one on the songbook, and commenting on the megacringe transliterations of the songbook. The first such song is Вечерний звон | Vĵećĵérnij zvon , "Evening bell chime". I give below the songbook text (megacringe transliteration "MCT", possible cyrillification "C", and good transliteration thereof "GT"), the lyrics here , the lyrics of the video, and the lyrics of this other video . Sonbgook version MCT C GT Viecerni svon, (2v.) Kak mnoga dum navodit on. O junich dniach v kraiu random, Gdie ia liubil, gdie oci dom. I kaki a snim naviek prastias, Tam sliscial svon v pasgliedni ras. I skolkich niet tiepier givich Tagda viesielich maladich. ...

Original mess Revised post I met this song on 8/7/20 while googling "vetem". Basically, I had written vetëm in the Albanian translation here , and my advisor said it was vetem (note the second e having or missing the diaeresis), so I checked the internet, and among the google results for vetem was "Vetem nje nate", one of a few results where "vetem" (no diaeresis) was apparently due to constant lack of diaereses. I saved it "for later" that day, and today, 16/8/20, I want to try to crack it. So this is finally a "standard" post on this blog :). Let's first google the lyrics. Here we go , with translation to help us on our way. Yes, I sometimes draw from ready-made translations or Google translations in order to decipher some words. Lyrics and translation from there: I tregova sot dikujt Një Fshetsi që e kam rujt Në zemër kon e kam pas kurr skam mujt me dasht # Isha plot dashuri Zër...