Can anyone translate the Georgian lyrics to this Giya Kancehli song?

January 31, 2015 2:34 AM

Here is the song, entitled "Yellow Leaves" I looked high and low and couldn't find an English translation. Any help appreciated. Even better, if you find (or translate) - laying out the Georgian and English lyric line-by-line would be awesome. Many thanks, in advance, for any help on this!
posted by Vibrissae to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Best answer: The Georgian is:

ყვითელი ფოთლები თან მიაქვს ქარს
და აყრის ფიფქებად შენს სახლის კარს,
გეძახი არავინ არა მცემს ხმას,
ყვითელი ფოთლები სიჩუმეს გავს.

და მაინც ყვითელი ფოთლების მწამს,
ყვითელი ფოთლები სიჩუმეს გავს.

In transliteration:

qvit’eli p’ot’lebi t’an miak’vs k’ars
da aqris p’ip’k’ebad shens sakhlis kars,
gedzakhi aravin ara mts’ems khmas,
qvit’eli p’ot’lebi sich’umes gavs.

da maints’ qvit’eli p’ot’lebis mtsams,
qvit’eli p’ot’lebi sich’umes gavs.

Google Translate gives:

Yellow leaves in the wind takes away
And snow on your door,
I call you not to vote for me,
Yellow leaves like the silence.

Still yellow leaves of the believer,
Yellow leaves like the silence.

Something's gone wrong with the third line, obviously, but you get the general idea. If I have time later (I'm under work pressure) I'll take a closer look with my rusty Georgian and see if I can figure out what the "vote for me" line should be. Hope this helps!
posted by languagehat at 8:47 AM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]

Also, the artist's name in Georgian is გია ყანჩელი, better transliterated as Gia Qancheli, and the apostrophes in the transliteration represent aspiration (i.e., p' is p with a slight puff of air after it, as is normal in English; p without the apostrophe has no puff of air, as in Spanish).
posted by languagehat at 8:48 AM on January 31, 2015 [2 favorites]

Man, trying to figure out მცემს ხმას (the "vote for me" part) is reminding me of why I gave up on Georgian. The -ცე- is part of one form of the verb 'to give,' and I think it means 'not to give (them) to me,' but it would probably take me months of study to be sure.

Great song, thanks for exposing me to it!
posted by languagehat at 7:12 AM on February 3, 2015