"TENGA YA-MO MAN PROMETE"

A good friend, Jose Arriola Espinosa, composed these Chamorro lyrics to go to the song, "Silver Threads and Golden Needles."  A great way to improve our language skills is by learning songs in the language.

I'll start with the entire Chamorro version first, then a line-by-line translation.

Tenga ya-mo man promete, ni korason-mo che'lu-ho.
Solamente yo' sin suette, guine nai na huego.

Sa' kåda yo' nai man guaiya, guinaiya ni gof fitme,
ma deroga i kontråta, ya ha tutuhon i puti.

Chorus : Nene, nene, gaima'ase', sa' ti siña hu sungon,
todo este na pinadese, korason-ho ti mesngon.
Oppe yo' pot kilisyåno, oppe yo' ni magåhet,
kao bai suette guinaiya-mo, pat kao bai hu maså'pet?

Nene, ya-mo man ofrese, pues ti siña hao konfotme,
na un fan guaiya un kilisyåno, uno ha' kåda biåhe.
Hinasso-mo na ti kombiene, na un fan guaiya nai tåtte,
eyo ya-mo i diårio, mås ke sea nai håye.

(Spoken) (Nangga nåya,) siempre un dia, un padese i kastigon i huegu-mo,
sa' hågo na klåsen taotao, ti åpmam hinasso-mo.
Siempre un dia un angokko, na un ma guaiya ni fitme,
ma fa' baba hao nai tåtte, asta ke måsga hao, nene.

TRANSLATION

(see asterisked notes)

Tenga ya-mo man promete, ni korason-mo che'lu-ho.
(You often like to promise your heart, my brother/sister*)
Solamente yo' sin suette, guine nai na huego.
(All I am is the unlucky one in this game.)

Sa' kåda yo' nai man guaiya, guinaiya ni gof fitme,
(Because every time I love with a true love**)
ma deroga i kontråta, ya ha tutuhon i puti.
(the deal is broken and the pain begins.)

Chorus : Nene, nene, gaima'ase', sa' ti siña hu sungon,
(Baby, baby have mercy, because I can't take)
todo este na pinadese, korason-ho ti mesngon.
(all this suffering, my heart isn't strong.***)
Oppe yo' pot kilisyåno, oppe yo' ni magåhet,
(Answer me for God's sake****, answer me truthfully)
kao bai suette guinaiya-mo, pat kao bai hu maså'pet?
(will I have the luck of getting your love, or will I suffer?)

Nene, ya-mo man ofrese, pues ti siña hao konfotme,
(Baby, you like to offer, then after you cannot come through*****)
na un fan guaiya un kilisyåno, uno ha' kåda biåhe.
(that you should love someone, one at a time.)
Hinasso-mo na ti kombiene, na un fan guaiya nai tåtte,
(You think it's not proper******, for you to love back)
eyo ya-mo i diårio, mås ke sea nai håye.
(what you like is something new each day*******, it doesn't matter with who.)

Spoken over instrumental :

Nangga nåya, siempre un dia, un padese i kastigon i huegu-mo,
(Wait a bit, for surely one day, you will suffer the punishment of your games)
sa' hågo na klåsen taotao, ti åpmam hinasso-mo.
(because you're the type of person whose thoughts don't last long.)
Siempre un dia un angokko, na un ma guaiya ni fitme,
(Surely one day you will hope to be loved for real)
ma fa' baba hao nai tåtte, asta ke måsga hao, nene.
(you will be betrayed back, until you get tired******** of it, baby.)

NOTES

* Che'lu.  Literally means "brother" or "sister" but here it means "friend," and not even literally "friend" but rather a way of addressing someone.

** Fitme.  Means "firm," "strong."  But here the connotation is a "true love," one that is strong and one that lasts.

*** Mesgnon.  Means "enduring," "capable of tolerating pain."  Here it can be taken to mean "strong."

**** Kilisyåno.  Literally means "Christian," but Chamorros use it to indicate a person, any person at all among Chamorros or western people.  Traditionally non-Christian people would not be called "kilisyåno." The phrase in this line means "answer me, because I am worthy of an answer, a person of worth, since I am Christian."

***** Konfotme.  Means "agreeable, willing."  In this line, the meaning is, "You make an offer, but then you aren't willing to see it through."

****** Kombiene.  Means "proper, right, correct, appropriate."  Here, the meaning is "You don't follow through because you think you don't have to; it's not your obligation."

******* Diårio.  "Daily."  The girl wants some new fling every day, which is why she can't come through with her promises of true love.

******** Måsga.  Means "to regret, to decide to change."  Here it means, "When your bad ways back fire on you, you'll get tired of paying the price for your old ways and want to change."