Estonian: Aeti mu mõtsa

[Hazel_Song]

Awhile ago, I found a catchy song in Estonian, and I looked around but haven't been able to find any English lyric translations, so I was wondering if someone could either tell me the gist of the song or translate it line by line (only if you have the time/really want to).

Here are the lyircs:

Aeti mu mõtsa, aeti mõtsa ommukult,
varra inne, varra inne valgõt.
Anti mul peiu, anti peiu pikk vits,
kandli ala', kandli ala' karjavits.
Oles mul olnu, oles mul olnu uma imä,
elanü, elanü uma esä.
Andnu mul peiu, andnu peiu piimämuru,
kandli ala', kandli ala' karjamuru
Võõras an'd peiu, võõras an'd peiu pikä vitsa,
kandli ala', kandli ala' karjavitsa.
An'd luu, an'd luu, ütel liha,
an'd koorigu, an'd koorigu, kuulut' är,
Oles mul olnu, oles mul olnu uma imä,
elanü, elanü uma esä,
Imä an'd liha, imä an'd liha, ütel' luu,
an'd tükü, an'd tükü, ütel' tühä.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!
* Song: Aeti Mu Mõtsa by Oort

 

[ger4]

According to this source, it is a regilaul, a runic song from Southern Estonia. The dialect is probably Võro (here it is even called a language) or a related variety of Southern Estonian. As I'm still learning (standard) Estonian trying to read a text in a dialect is quite a challenge... but very interesting...

As far as I understand, the song is about an orphan's hard life with his foster mother and his dreams about the past, when his parents were still alive.

 

[ger4]

Perhaps I can just translate some of the words I recognize from standard Estonian (not many, unfortunately...) Someone else might be able to correct something, add something - or translate it properly.

Aeti mu mõtsa, aeti mõtsa ommukult,
- aeti - (they) sent (impersonal verb form)(1)
- mu - me
- mõtsa - (in)to the forest (illative)
- ommukult - (away) from my home (elative)
varra inne, varra inne valgõt.
- varra - early
- inne - before
- valgõt <-- valge = white --> = bright? = daybreak?
Anti mul peiu, anti peiu pikk vits,
- anti - (they) gave (1)
- mul - to me
- peiu - ?
- pikk - a long
- vits - crook (?)
kandli ala', kandli ala' karjavits.
- kandli - ?
- ala' - ?
- karjavits - shepherd's crook (?)
Oles mul olnu, oles mul olnu uma imä,
- Oles - ?
- mul olnu - I had, I used to have (2)
- uma - my own
- imä - mother
elanü, elanü uma esä.
- elanü - lived, used to live, used to be alive
- uma - my own
- esä - father
Andnu mul peiu, andnu peiu piimämuru,
- Andnu - they gave ('they' isn't mentioned but implied; this is not an impersonal form)
- mul - to me
- peiu - ?
- piimä - milk (genitive form as first part of a compound noun)
- -muru - ?
kandli ala', kandli ala' karjamuru
- kandli - ?
- ala' - ?
- karja- - (karjane - shepherd)
- -muru - ?
Võõras an'd peiu, võõras an'd peiu pikä vitsa,
- Võõras - strange, unknown
- an'd - gave
- peiu - ?
- pikä - long (object)(3)
- vitsa, - crook (object)(3)
kandli ala', kandli ala' karjavitsa.
- kandli ala' - ?
- karjavitsa - shepherd's crook (object)(3)
An'd luu, an'd luu, ütel liha,
- An'd - gave
- luu - bone
- ütel - ?
- liha - flesh, meat (3)
an'd koorigu, an'd koorigu, kuulut' är,
- an'd - gave
- koorigu - crust, scab, encrustation
- kuulut' - ?
- är = ära? (indicating completion of an action)
Oles mul olnu, oles mul olnu uma imä,
- Oles - ?
- mul olnu - I had, used to have
- uma - my own
- imä, - mother
elanü, elanü uma esä,
- elanü - lived, used to live
- uma - my own
- esä, - father
Imä an'd liha, imä an'd liha, ütel' luu,
- imä - mother (subject)
- an'd - gave
- liha - meat, flesh (object)(3)
- ütel' - ?
- luu - bone
an'd tükü, an'd tükü, ütel' tühä.
- an'd - gave
- tükü - lump, piece (object)(3)
- ütel' - ?
- tühä. - ?

(1) This verb form ending in -ti has an impersonal meaning (i.e. the subject isn't mentioned) often corresponding to the use of 'they' + verb in English (as in 'they say that...' etc).

(2) literally 'there was at me' - Estonian doesn't have a single verb corresponding to 'to have'

(3) formally the genitive but it is used as an accusative, to indicate the (total) object

 

[applefarm]

- valgõt <-- valge = white --> = bright? = daybreak?

"valge" -is correct, means bright daytime.

Oles mul olnu, oles mul olnu uma imä,
- Oles - ?

"Oleks" - "if i would have"

An'd luu, an'd luu, ütel liha,
- ütel - ?

"ütel" = "1"/"one" in genitive maybe. Or maybe "to say", "ütlema".

Such old language is difficult to understand for a native Estonian, i don't understand it. I don't see good dictionaries either in internet.

One simple dictionary:
http://www.eki.ee/dict/vms/
There you can enter a word into text field and press button called "...Otsi...".
I entered word "muru", results:
http://www.eki.ee/cgi-bin/vms.cgi?m...olm=0&nmax_kolm=116&mmin_kolm=0&mmax_kolm=116

From results those 2 lines may be helpful:
muru (moro) "<õu -- yard, outside
muru (moro) "(leiva)viilukas -- slice of bread

I guess "piima muru" is meaning of owning cows, being rich.

Seems like one more dictionary exists, there is also the word "muru" in meaning "farmyard", "taluõu":

http://www.eki.ee/dict/ems/index.cgi?Q=muru&F=M&C06=et


Because Estonian people have been slaves long time, then old songs mainly talk about poverty and difficult life. Melanholic cry or so.

But it is difficult to translate even to native Estonian.


Aeti mu mõtsa, aeti mõtsa ommukult,
I was sent to forrest, sent to forrest in the morning,
varra inne, varra inne valgõt.
early before, early before daylight
Anti mul peiu, anti peiu pikk vits,
A guest would have given bride's, given (?)bride's long hoop/rod(?)
kandli ala', kandli ala' karjavits.
(?)behind/under armpit(?), (?)bride's hoop/rod(?)
Oles mul olnu, oles mul olnu uma imä,
If i had, if i had my own mother
elanü, elanü uma esä.
(and) lived, lived my own father,
Andnu mul peiu, andnu peiu piimämuru,
Would have given me (?)bride's(?), (?)given me bride's cows/richness (?)
kandli ala', kandli ala' karjamuru
(?)(and) given me pasture land(?)
Võõras an'd peiu, võõras an'd peiu pikä vitsa,
A guest would have given bride's, given (?)bride's long hoop/rod(?)
kandli ala', kandli ala' karjavitsa.
(?)behind/under armpit(?), (?)bride's shepherd's hoop/rod(?)
An'd luu, an'd luu, ütel liha,
Would have given bone, given bone, one meat
an'd koorigu, an'd koorigu, kuulut' är,
(?)Would have given piece of bread, given piece of bread, consumed it(?)
Oles mul olnu, oles mul olnu uma imä,
If i had, if i had my own mother
elanü, elanü uma esä,
(and) lived, lived my own father,
Imä an'd liha, imä an'd liha, ütel' luu,
Mother would have given meat, mother would have given meat, and one bone
an'd tükü, an'd tükü, ütel' tühä.
would have given a piece, a piece, (?)said "good word"(?).

I don't understand much of the translation, i just tried to put some logical translastions.

But i understand main logic, that one seems not to have parents, and dreams to have food, and seems to dream about richness and wife.