I am so excited to share this song titled Otro by my friend Dabit Taitingfong! Some of you may know Dabit from his work on @dihan.dabit on Tiktok and Instagram, where he makes videos and mini Chamorro language lessons – entirely in Chamorro! These past few months Dabit has been caught by a music muse, composing song after song in Chamorro – and this is his first release! If you’ve been wanting more original Chamorro music that’s both contemporary and fresh, his songs won’t disappoint. With romantic lyrics and soft vibes, his songs are a welcome addition to my Chamorro music library. This post includes the Chamorro lyrics, an English translation and footnotes to help us understand some of the language usage in the song. Happy listening!
| Sangåni yu’ para månu hit desde på’go mo’na, | Tell me where we are going from now on, |
| Kao malago’ hao na ta sotta’ todu hagas che’cho’-ta?1 | Do you want us to let go of all we’ve done? |
| Ai mungnga dei masångan na esta hao maléleffa | Oh, don’t say that you are already forgetting |
| Na i guinaiya-mu hagas un nå’i yu’ | That your love, you gave me long ago |
| Ai ná’piniti ya u falingu | Oh it’s painful if it will be lost |
| Ilek-mu na i tiempo-ta nai måtto ha’ u fåkpo’2 | You said that our time is already about to end |
| Guáilayi3 na bai tungu’ | I need to know |
| Håfa, kao ti siña ta ke’áfa’maolek4? | What, can we not try to make it work with each other? |
| Kao magåhet na pon yute’ yu’5? | Is it true that you are going to throw me away? |
| Un sångan na guahu ha’, sempripri un ayek | You said that I was the only one you would always choose |
| Puedi ti lachi ayu | Hopefully that’s not wrong |
| Håfa, kao ti siña ta ke’áfa’maolek? | What, can we not try to make it work with each other? |
| Kao magåhet na ti ya-mu yu’?6 | Is it true that you don’t like/want me? |
| Manalíligao hao otru hun7, ai na chinaddek | They say you are looking for someone else, oh so fast |
| Mon8 ti magåhet ayu | Hopefully that’s not true |
| Pine’lo-ku na ti bai háhasso i chi’che’-mu | I thought that I wouldn’t be thinking of your smile |
| Lao ai i inette-ku9 | But oh, my heart |
| Ti ha seddi yu’ na bai maleffa | It won’t let me forget |
| Ya fehman10 i piniti-hu | And my pain is intense |
| Sa’ i guinaiya-mu ni un nå’i yu’ | Because the love which you gave me |
| Ai nápiniti na malílingu | Oh, it hurts that it’s being lost |
| Ilek-mu na i tiempo-ta hagas måmakpo’ | You said that our time has been ending for a while |
| Måttu ha’ na hu tungu’11 | Now I know |
| Na mungnga’ hao esta na ta áfa’maolek | That you already don’t want us to make it work with each other |
| Magåhet na un yuyute’ yu’ | It’s true that you are throwing me away |
| Un sångan na guahu ha’, sempripri pon ayek | You said that it was only me that you would always choose |
| Lao sa’ góflachi ayu | But because that’s so wrong |
| Ai ti siña hit på’go nai ta áfa’maolek | Oh, we can’t make it work now |
| Mungnga hao ai nu guahu12 | You don’t want me |
| Ya mañodda’ hao otru, ai na chinaddéddek | And you’ve found someone else, oh it was so very fast |
| Klåru na lachi ha’ yu’13 | It’s clear that I was wrong |
| Sa’ siguru na ti pa’14 ta áfa’maolek | Because it’s certain that we won’t make it work with each other |
| Annokpå’go un sényute’ yu’ | It’s obvious now that you really threw me away |
| Ti guahu på’go mo’na nai para un ayek | I am not the one you will choose from now on |
| Magåhet dinanchi ayu | That’s actually correct |
| Hu tungu’ på’gu na ti pa’ ta áfa’maolek | I know now that we will not make it work with each other |
| Annok ha’15 na ti un ayek yu’ | It’s so obvious that you did not choose me |
| Sa’ mangguaiya hao otru, ai na chinaddéddek | Because you are in love with someone else, oh so very fast |
| Ai sa’ magåhet ayu | Oh because that’s actually true |
| Lokkue’16 magåhet ayu | Gosh, that’s true |
| Ti guahu inayek-mu | I am not the one you chose |
| Ya mangguaiya hao otru | And you are in love with another |
Notes
1 todu hagas che’cho’-ta: This literally translates to “all of our previous work” but in the context of the song, it means more along the lines of “everything we have done”, which refers to the work in the relationship between the singer and the person being sung to. The word hagas is used here which means “a long time ago” or “gone, past, in the past.”
2 i tiempo-ta nai måtto ha’ u fåkpo’: The måtto ha’ is literally “already arrived, already come” and u fåkpo’ means “will be over” or “will end.”
3 guáilayi: “important, necessary, useful”
4 ke’áfa’maolek: The root word is maolek, which means “good”. We get to this word with the following affixes: ke’- + á- + fa’- + maolek. We can understand this word literally as “try to be good to one another; try to cooperate.” In the way it’s used in this song, we can understand it as two people trying to work things out with each other in the context of a relationship.
5 pon yute’ yu’: This phrase literally means “you will throw me away” but in the context of the song, it’s talking about a break-up or leaving someone. The pon is also a contracted form of para un.
6 ti ya-mu yu’: This is literally “you don’t like me” but in the context of the song, we can also understand it as “you don’t want me.”
7 Manalíligao hao otru hun: The hun is a form of speech attribution, indicating “he said, she said.” We may more often see something like ilek-ña for this kind of speech attribution, but hun is also another way to mark this. In this context of the sentence, it’s like literally saying “He/she/they said that you are looking for someone else.”
8 mon: This is a contracted form of mohon.
9 inette-ku: The root word is ette or ete, which our teacher Ray Barcinas said means “to feel”, in the sense of your feelings. Therefore, this word can replace siente. He also told us that it’s another word for heart, both in an emotional sense and physical sense. However, when used to refer to the physical heart, it can only be used to refer to the physical heart for humans, not animals.
10 fehman: “profound, intense”
11 Måttu ha’ na hu tungu’: The måttu means “arrived come” and the ha’ is an intensifier, to indicate “only” or “just.” So a literal translation can be “It’s just arrived that I know” which in English we can understand as “Now I know.”
12 mungnga hao ai nu guahu: The word mungnga or munga means “no, not, don’t” and in this lyric, we understand it as “You don’t want me.” We may often hear mungnga in contexts when someone is being told not to do something (ie: mungnga mapacha’ i trongkon nunu = don’t touch the banyan tree; mungnga tumaiguennao = Don’t be like that). But it can also be used in other contexts, such as in declining something offered to you, as a way to say you don’t want it.
13 lachi ha’ yu’: The ha’ is an intensifier, which adds to the flavor of the singer coming to the realization that they were wrong.
14 pa’: This is an abbreviated version of para, which is a future marker.
15 Annok ha’: The ha’ intensifier is used again, this time with the word annok which means something is “visible, apparent, exposed, showing.” In the context of the song, everything is now made apparent to the singer that they were not chosen.
16 Lokkue’: The word lokkue’ literally means “also too” but this word is also used in the expression ai lokkue’ which is an exclamation, equivalent to “Oh gosh” in English. It’s this second expression that is being used in this lyric.
Lengguahi-ta 