Jay had to cancel his evening practice group at the last minute this past weekend, so there’s no new song for this week. But this is another song from our backlog, which Jay’s Saturday evening group transcribed back in May. It’s on the slightly faster side, with the singer declaring to his spouse that he will never forget their wedding day. As always, this post includes Chamorro lyrics, an English translation and language notes for the song Ti Bai Maleffa sung by Daniel De Leon Guerrero. Happy listening!

Nu ngai’an na bai maleffa nu ayu na diha	I’m never going to forget that day
Annai dumimu hit me’nan as Påle’ ai gi me’nan i attat	When we kneeled before the priest in front of the altar
Hu nå’i hao ni aniyu-hu para un usa gi kalulot-mu	I gave you my ring for you to wear on your finger
Ya bai hu prumeti hao na para hågu ha’ todu i tiempu	And I will promise you that it’ll be just you [for just you] for all of time

Ai nu ngai’an na bai hu maleffa nu ayu na diha	I will never forget that day
Annai un prumeti hit na guahu ha’, neni, para un guaiya	When you promised me1 that I would be the only one, baby, that you would love
Ai nu ngai’an na bai maleffa nu esti na prumite-mu	Oh I’m never going to forget your promise
Sa’ bai hu akåtga asta ha’ i naftan-hu	Because I’m going to carry it to my grave

Sa’ hågu ha’ guinaiya-ku para todus i tiempu	Because you’re my only love for all time
Ya bai prumeti hao na bai na’magof hao mo’na gi lina’lå’-mu	And I will promise you that I will make you happy through/forward in your life [for the rest of your life]
Bai nå’i hao ni guinaiya-ku ginen i kurason-hu	I will give you my love from my heart
Ya ola’ na un guaiya yu’, neni, ai parehu	And I wish that you will love me, baby, oh the same
[dandan]	[music]

Ai hågu ha’ (i) guinaiya-ku neni gi kurason-hu	Oh it’s only you, baby, in my heart
Ya kucha’ taimanu minetgot-ña i tentasión para guahu	And no matter how strong [whatever the strength] of temptation for me
Nu ngai’an na bai hu fa’baba hao ai neni	I will never deceive you2 , oh baby
Sa’ esta Si Yu’us tåta, ai esta hu prumeti	Because oh I’ve already promised God the Father

Ai nu ngai’an na bai maleffa nu ayu ai na diha	I will never forget that day
Annai dumimu hit me’nan as Påle’ ai gi me’nan i attat	When we knelt in front of the priest in front of the altar
Hu nå’i hao ni aniyu-hu para un usa gi kalulot-mu	I gave you my ring for you to where on your finger
Ya para un prumeti yu’ na guahu ha’ todu i tiempu	And you will promise me that I would be the only one for all time

Ai hu nå’i hao ni aniyu-hu para un pega gi kalulot-mu	I gave you my ring for you to put on your finger
Ya para un prumeti yu’ na guahu todu i tiempu	And you will promise me that it’ll be me for all of time
Na para un prumeti yu’ na para guahu ha’ guinaiya-mu	That you will promise me that I will be your only love
(Ya) para un prumeti yu’ neni nu guinaiyan kurason-mu	(And) you will promise me, baby, the love from your heart

Footnotes

1. Annai un prumeti hit: “When you promised me”. Often in colloquial Chamorro, the pronoun hit (us) is used when a speaker actually means yu’ (me). This is not considered a defect or incorrect, and it occurs quite frequently in native speech. We’ve also heard this speech pattern in the song Fahåni Hit Flores. It’s also interesting to note that colloquial British English does something similar, with phrases like “Give us a hug”, “Lend us a hand”, or “Buy us a drink.” In both the Chamorro and the (British) English phrases, the “grammatically correct” pronoun to use would be “me”, but it is colloquially accepted to use the “us” pronoun instead. For British English, the use of “us” is meant to be informal, affectionate, friendly, and convey a softer tone. Jay and I aren’t certain, but we think that this pattern in Chamorro functions similarly. ↩︎
2. Nu ngai’an na bai hu fa’baba hao: “I will never deceive you”. We can also understand the meaning as “I will never make a fool of you.” ↩︎