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The song of Katusha
Girl in apple blossoms singing
To soldier lover
Perhaps the song that
Expresses patriotism and
Sentiment most for
Russians during the
Great Patriotic War with
Katusha missiles
Named in affection
After the girl who sings to
Soldiers at the front
Asking them to guard
Their native land while she will
Guard love --- that song is
Now in Chinese!
Linguist's curiosity believes it should be Mandarin (this is from a Communist Friendship of Nations promotion in USSR's Radiofund --- somehow I doubt it's Taiwanese) but can use confirmation of this from anyone who knows. (The beautifully surreal fact occurs to me that as far as I know, my friendslist's aggregate competence in Langue d'Oc or Old Icelandic is higher than in Mandarin Chinese.)
Because I am still an honourable woman and will save messing with your mind, by not giving a song translation for once, for a later time when it will do the most evil, the lyrics in Russian mean approximately the following (can't speak whether the Chinese were faithful to it; if Russians got their music taken but entirely different lyrics tacked on, it would only be reciprocation, for they themselves have done it far more than once):
The apple and pear trees were blooming
The mists floated over the river
Katusha came out onto the shore
Onto the high steep shore.
She came out and sang a song
About the gray eagle of steppes
About the one she loved
About the one whose letters she treasured.
Oh, you song, you maiden's song,
Follow behind the bright sun
To the soldier on the far border
And give him greetings from Katusha.
Let him remember the simple girl
Let him hear how she sings
Let him guard our native land
While Katusha will guard love.
The apple and pear trees were blooming
The mists floated over the river
Katusha came out onto the shore
Onto the high steep shore.
Katusha < Katya < Katerina = Catherine, so if you try to approximate Russian's intricate system of affectionate diminutives (there's a reason why I speak my native tongue to animals and infants) it would be "Katie".
Girl in apple blossoms singing
To soldier lover
Perhaps the song that
Expresses patriotism and
Sentiment most for
Russians during the
Great Patriotic War with
Katusha missiles
Named in affection
After the girl who sings to
Soldiers at the front
Asking them to guard
Their native land while she will
Guard love --- that song is
Now in Chinese!
Linguist's curiosity believes it should be Mandarin (this is from a Communist Friendship of Nations promotion in USSR's Radiofund --- somehow I doubt it's Taiwanese) but can use confirmation of this from anyone who knows. (The beautifully surreal fact occurs to me that as far as I know, my friendslist's aggregate competence in Langue d'Oc or Old Icelandic is higher than in Mandarin Chinese.)
Because I am still an honourable woman and will save messing with your mind, by not giving a song translation for once, for a later time when it will do the most evil, the lyrics in Russian mean approximately the following (can't speak whether the Chinese were faithful to it; if Russians got their music taken but entirely different lyrics tacked on, it would only be reciprocation, for they themselves have done it far more than once):
The apple and pear trees were blooming
The mists floated over the river
Katusha came out onto the shore
Onto the high steep shore.
She came out and sang a song
About the gray eagle of steppes
About the one she loved
About the one whose letters she treasured.
Oh, you song, you maiden's song,
Follow behind the bright sun
To the soldier on the far border
And give him greetings from Katusha.
Let him remember the simple girl
Let him hear how she sings
Let him guard our native land
While Katusha will guard love.
The apple and pear trees were blooming
The mists floated over the river
Katusha came out onto the shore
Onto the high steep shore.
Katusha < Katya < Katerina = Catherine, so if you try to approximate Russian's intricate system of affectionate diminutives (there's a reason why I speak my native tongue to animals and infants) it would be "Katie".
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Yep, it's Mandarin.
The beautifully surreal fact occurs to me that as far as I know, my friendslist's aggregate competence in Langue d'Oc or Old Icelandic is higher than in Mandarin Chinese.
I don't know about that. I managed to get an A- in fifth semester Mandarin... not that that means much, given that nobody has any idea how to teach it.
can't speak whether the Chinese were faithful to it
I wouldn't have expected them to be, but they were.
From:
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I didn't hear of anyone else on my friendslist but hot_soup knowing Mandarin before (and that moderately) whereas you and Siderea discussed medieval Romance languages, and I would think that two other of my friends who specialize in medieval history would have at least some working knowledge of them.
can't speak whether the Chinese were faithful to it
I wouldn't have expected them to be, but they were.
Good. I could hear the word "Katusha" in the relevant verses, which gave me hope, but I doubt any other word would likely be borrowed into Mandarin.
not that that means much, given that nobody has any idea how to teach it.
Are there many Chinese immigrants in the circles that you circulate in? My high school, oriented as it was on arts and academics, was possibly 30 or 40% Chinese, but few of them became linguists (a rather greater number became mathematicians, and many many became engineers) so most of my Chinese friends are from high school or from quiz circles. (The Canadian multicultural-mosaic attitude versus the American melting-pot, allegedly, may affect how these things pan out.)
Mandarin was offered as a third-language course in my high school, before budget cuts forced them to drop it.