Talk:Eh, Cumpari!

Translation should be revised

In my opinion, the rough translation on the article page should be revised. The first stanza as sung by LaRosa goes:

   Eh cumpare, ci vò sunare?
   Chi si sona? U friscaletto.
   E comu si sona u friscaletto?
   <whistling 4 times> U friscalett', e tipiti tipiti ta! <whistling 3 times>

Notes on my transcription: Most of the song lyrics for this song found around the Internet (example) seem to originate from a source based on another singer's rendition. The way I hear it, LaRosa uses the singular ("cumpare", not "cumpari") for "friend/comrade" and "friscaletto" (not "friscalettu") for "flute" (for the latter, both spellings are possible, see for example Music_of_Sicily).

The translation on the article page (by admission of the author, rough) reads:

   Hey buddy, [music] is playing.
   What is playing? The whistle.
   And what does it sound like—the whistle?
   [vocalized instrument sound] the whistle, [nonsense rhythm words]

"Ci vò sunare", however, means "shall we/do we want to play" (an instrument, as opposed to, for example, playing football or chess), not "music is playing". "Chi si sona?" means "What shall we play?", not "What is playing?". "comu si sona" means "how does one play", not "what does it sound like".

The following translation is therefore more correct in my opinion:

   Hey friend, shall we play <an instrument>?
   What shall we play? The whistle.
   And how does one play the whistle?
   <whistling 4 times> The whistle, and tipiti tipiti ta! <whistling 4 times>

I must admit that I am not a native speaker of the Southern Calabrian dialect myself (I originate from northern Italy), a verification by someone more familiar with the dialect might threfore be in order. In particular, I am unsure about the correct translation of "cumpare" from Southern Calabrian to English (Friend? Comrade? Buddy?).

Rberra (talk) 17:53, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

It´s really hard to spot a difference when a speaker of those dialect(s) says "cumpari". It might aswell sound like cumpare..so. I´m from northern calabria and the dialect sounds more than familiar, it´s pretty much like we speak. We never use the word though, it´s only Cumpa (written) or more likely Cumba (spoken).

Same with friscalettu, I hear it that way but I can totally understand the other way round as it is pretty much impossible to figure it out.

As for "Ci vò sunare" - the translation in the region where I come from would be more like "There is (a) need (Ci vo) to play music (sunare)" or even "It´s time to play music". --79.205.95.11 (talk) 01:42, 8 January 2016 (UTC)