Ma maire vòu
Folk counting song from Nice County
Ma maire vòu
My Mother Wants
Children's Song
Children's Song
(Occitan)
(English)
Ma maire vòu que n'aimi un, (bis)
N'en aimerai ni un, ni degun.
Au bout de la douzèna
Aimerai cu voudrai. (bis)
Ma maire vòu que n'aimi doui, (bis)
N'en aimerai ni doui, ni un, ni degun.
Au bout de la douzèna
Aimerai cu voudrai. (bis)
Ma maire vòu que n'aimi tré, (bis)
N'en aimerai ni tré, ni doui, ni un, ni degun.
Au bout de la douzèna
Aimerai cu voudrai. (bis)
Ma maire vòu que n'aimi quatre, (bis)
N'en aimerai ni quatre, ni tré, ni doui, ni un, ni degun.
Au bout de la douzèna
Aimerai cu voudrai. (bis)
Etc…
My mother wants me to love one, (twice)
I will love neither one, nor anyone
After a dozen
I will love whom I want to. (twice)
My mother wants me to love two, (twice)
I will love neither two, nor one, nor anyone
After a dozen
I will love whom I want to. (twice)
My mother wants me to love three, (twice)
I will love neither three, nor two, nor one, nor anyone
After a dozen
I will love whom I want to. (twice)
My mother wants me to love four, (twice)
I will love neither four, nor three, nor two, nor one, nor anyone
After a dozen
I will love whom I want to. (twice)
Etc…
Notes
This song is in the Provençal dialect of Occitan and it's written in what we call "Mistralian spelling".
The Occitan language has two main written forms:
1) The Normalized or Classic Written Form a.k.a. Alibert's Written Form - based on the Troubadours' spelling. It was modernized at the end of the 19th century and fixed by Louis Alibert in the 1930's.
2) The Felibres' Written Form a.k.a. Mistralian Written Form - based on French spelling. It was fixed by Joseph Roumanille in the second half of the 19th century. It's mainly used in East Occitania (Provence and Nice). It was used by Frederic Mistral – hence the name. The "felibres" were Provençal writers who decided to defend and promote the Provençal language and literature in the 1850's.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Jean-Gabriel Maurandi from the site Musique Traditionnelle du Comté de Nice for allowing us to use this song from his site.
Granmaci !
