Friday, January 20, 2012

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Nåna lao na gåtbon nene / i gumuhu gi bentåna;
ya bunecho ya u gåtbo / sa' inadora as nanå-ña.

My what a cute baby / the one looking out the window;
and it's all very well that she's a cute baby / because her mother adores her.

All cultures, I believe, adore their children, albeit in different ways.  In our culture, we always have to hold, hug, pinch, pet and play with our babies, trying to make them laugh.

Nåna lao = literally, the two words separately mean "mother" and "but," but this phrase is used to express surprise, disapproval or even dismay, or some reaction.

Gåtbo = from the Spanish garbo, meaning "beautiful."  Greta Garbo was, indeed, beautiful.

Guhu = to look out a window.

Bunecho = from the Spanish "buen hecho," though the more correct Spanish form is "bien hecho," "well done."  But Chamorros use the phrase sarcastically, as when a child is warned to stop running around and then falls and scratches a knee.  The parent will say, "Bunecho!"  "Very good!  I told you so!" 

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