tantire

[Mark Franke]

There is a French comptine called Ah mon beau château.
It uses the word 'tantire'. I cannot find it, even in
French dictionaries. Translation ideas?
Thank you.

 

[Xenay]

Hi,

Tantire doesn't exist. Maybe that "word" is just used for its phonetics ?
Actually, Ma tantire, lire, lo that comes from the comptine has no sense neither.

 

[doinel]

Hello Mark Franke and welcome to the forum,
I think the whole line is something like ' na na nère"
We have a beautiful castle ... Ours is more beautiful.
Kids making other kids jealous. ( maybe pulling out their tongues)

 

[pointvirgule]

I do think ma tan tire lire lo is based on the sentence, Ma tant' tire l'eau = My aunt draws water [from the well].

Added to the mix is a phonetic play on tirelire, which is the song of the lark; as lord Guillaume de Salluste poetically put it:
La gentille Alouette avec son tire-lire,
Tire l'ire à l'iré, et tire-lirant tire
Vers la voûte du Ciel [...]

Old mediaeval songs are full of nonsensical vocalizations such as tire lire lire, toure loure loure. There's an old Irish lullaby that goes, toora loora loora.

As for a translation, well...