KÅNTA : NENE ESTA PÅ'GO

Na' masi' na taotao sa' alunån-ña ha' siña ha toktok sa' pot taigue si kerida.

Poor guy; he can only hug his pillow because sweetheart is not there.

This is the Chamorro part of a song that also has a Carolinian part, sung by Dan Laniyo, a Carolinian from Saipan.

LYRICS

Nene esta* på'go i prendå-mo nu guåho
(Baby, up to now your gift to me)

gagaige ha' gi fondon kaohao-ho.
(is at the bottom of my chest.)

Yan i litratu-ta na dos ni hu pega gi liga
(And the  photograph of the two of us which I hung* on the wall)

kada hu atan nai nene ha na' suspiros yo'.
(every time I look at it baby it makes me sigh.)

Kulan mohon magåhet nene na gaige hao gi fi'on-ho
(It's as if you are truly by my side, baby)

sa' esta hu totoktok maolek alunån-ho.
(because I am giving my pillow a good hug.)

NOTES

Esta. The original word is asta, from the Spanish hasta, meaning "until." The older people keep the original word more, while younger people tend to change asta to esta, which creates a bit of a problem because there is already a word esta, meaning "already." Esta guaha finiho "esta!"

Prenda. A gift a lover gives to his or her sweetheart. A word borrowed from Spanish.

Kaohao. This is a chest to place special things. In the old days, almost every home had a kaohao where the woman of the house stored special fabrics, jewelry, important documents, photos and so on.

KAOHAO

Pega. This means "to place something," but I am rendering it "to hang something," as it makes better sense that way in English, although "to hang something" in Chamorro is kana'.