Since all the info I have about the song is in the Hakka Lyrics (facebook group) post I made about it, let me quote it as is, then proceed to ask the questions.
Nyi-teu-sa ti li siu ko kai Hak-boi he mai Hak-boi? [=Do you know what Hakka the Hakka of this song is?]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37SCGhnBVl4
Adding tone marks that reflect the tones given at hakka.dict.edu.tw for 南四县 Hakka. In particular, ` indicates the contour 31, ˍ the contour 11, ˆ the contour 24, ¯ the contour 55, nothing the contour 2 (checked tone), ˙ the contour 5 (checked tone 2).
There are a couple cases where the dictionary and what I hear don't quite line up. The most prominent case is 月, which I hear as ngiai and the dictionary gives as ngiȧt. I assume it is a colloquial evolution, so from contour 5 I assume the evolution was to contour 55, hence my ngiāi.
I have the impression that 結頭 should be 街頭, but I see no reason for that misspelling, since 街頭 exists in Mandarin and 結 and 街 have the same sound in both Mandarin and Hakka and a phonetic loan is hardly justified. EDIT: Scratch that: 街頭 is kiâi-the̱u, whereas "kiat" is clearly heard in the video.
哥系月亮妹系星–客家山歌
女:两條絲線長又長唉 | Liòng thia̱u sîi-siēn tsho̱ng yīu tsho̱ng ê
打個結頭丟過梁唉 | Tà kē kiat the̱u tîu kwō lio̱ng ê
千年呀唔見結頭散 | Tshiên nga̱n ya m̱ kiān kiat the̱u sān
妹子永久都愛郎 | Mōi-tsìi yòn-kìu tû ōi lo̱ng
唉呀都愛郎 | Âi-ya tû ōi lo̱ng
都愛郎 | Tû ōi lo̱ng
男:都愛郎 | Tû ōi lo̱ng
女:都愛郎 | Tû ōi lo̱ng
男:都愛郎 | Tû ōi lo̱ng
合:唉… | Ê…
男:阿哥結妹永唔丟唉 | Â-kô kiat mōi yùn m̱ tîu ê
除非柑樹結石榴唉 | Tshu̱-fî kâm sū kiat sȧg-le̱u ê
除非日頭西邊出 | Tshu̱-fî nyit-the̱u sî-piên tshut
除非河水向西流 | Tshu̱-fî ho̱-sùi hiōng sî li̱u
唉呀向西流 | Âi-ya hiōng sî li̱u
向西流 | Hiōng sî li̱u
女:向西流 | Hiōng sî li̱u
男:向西流 | Hiōng sî li̱u
女:向西流 | Hiōng sî li̱u
合:唉… | Ê…
女:汝話交情就交情唉 | Nyi̱ vā kâu-tshi̱n tshīu kâu-tshi̱n ê
交情愛交一生人唉 | Kâu-tshi̱n ōi kâu yit-sên-nyi̱n ê
哥係天上明月樣 | Kô hē thiên sōng bi̱n ngiāi-yōng
妹係星星伴月明 | Mōi hē sên-sên phān ngiāi bi̱n
唉呀伴月明 | Âi-ya phān ngiāi bi̱n
伴月明 | Phān ngiāi bi̱n
男:伴月明 | Phān ngiāi bi̱n
女:伴月明 | Phān ngiāi bi̱n
男:伴月明 | Phān ngiāi bi̱n
合:唉… | Ê…
男:两人相好心洽心唉 | Liòng nyi̱n siông-hàu sîm kiap sîm ê
千年鐵樹萬年青唉 | Tshiên nga̱n thiet sū bān nga̱n tshîn e
命有恁久情恁長 | Miāng yîu àn kìu tshi̱n àn tsho̱ng
交情越久情越深 | Kâu-tshi̱n ngiȧt kìu tshi̱n ngiȧt tshîim
唉呀情越深 | Âi-ya tshi̱n ngiȧt tshîim
情越深 | Tshi̱n ngiȧt tshîim
女:情越深 | Tshi̱n ngiȧt tshîim
男:情越深 | Tshi̱n ngiȧt tshîim
女:情越深 | Tshi̱n ngiȧt tshîim
合:唉… | Ê…
合:两人講過千年情[唉] | Liòng nyi̱n kòng-kwō tshiên nga̱n tshi̱n ê
两人相好心對心[唉] | Liòng nyi̱n siông-hàu sîm tūi sîm ê
牽手河邊照水影 | Khân-sù ho̱ piên tsāu sùi yàng
魚蝦都笑涯两人 | Ṉg ha̱ tû siāu ngāi liòng nyīn
唉呀涯俩人 | Âi-ya ngāi liòng nyīn
女:涯俩人 | Ngāi liòng nyīn
男:涯俩人 | Ngāi liòng nyīn
女:涯俩人 | Ngāi liòng nyīn
男:涯俩人 | Ngāi liòng nyīn
合:唉… | Ê…Adjustments made to the character spelling [from the captions]:
Verse 1:
絲綫 -> 絲線
哎 -> 唉 (this one in general, not only verse 1)Verse 4:
甲 -> 洽
Verse 5:
倆 -> 兩
Note that "ia" is always /ia/, never /ie/ as it is sometimes read under HV standard Phinjim styles (or should I say Ånton Xiè Phinjim style), where -ian and -iat (and maybe other such finals) are /ien/ and /iet/. Note also that "tshin | feeling" is sometimes pronounced with a "ch" sound rather than a"tsh" sound.
Translation attempt:
哥系月亮妹系星–客家山歌 | The boy is the moon and the girl is the stars - Hakka folk song
女:两條絲線長又長唉 | Two threads grow and grow
打個結頭丟過梁唉 | They hit a (結頭 | bond?, or "make a bond"?) and throw away a roof (marriage reference?)
千年呀唔見結頭散 | For 1000 years [they won't see?] the (結頭 | bond?) disperse (i.e. they won't break up?)
妹子永久都愛郎 | The girl will forever love the boy
唉呀都愛郎 | Ay yeah love the boy
都愛郎 | Love the boy
男:都愛郎 | Love the boy
女:都愛郎 | Love the boy
男:都愛郎 | Love the boy
合:唉… | Hey…
男:阿哥結妹永唔丟唉 | When a boy ties with a girl he never throws her away (i.e. breaks up, divorces)
除非柑樹結石榴唉 | Unless tangerine trees (tie? Does that mean "produce, make, bear"?) pomegranates
除非日頭西邊出 | Unless the sun rises from the west
除非河水向西流 | Unless the rivers flow westward
唉呀向西流 | Ay yeah flow westward
向西流 | Flow westward
女:向西流 | Flow westward
男:向西流 | Flow westward
女:向西流 | Flow westward
合:唉… | Hey…
女:汝話交情就交情唉 | You say [you]'ll be friends [with me] so be friends [with me]
交情愛交一生人唉 | We should be friends lifelong
哥係天上明月樣 | The boy is the bright moon in the sky
妹係星星伴月明 | The girl is the stars shining with the moon
唉呀伴月明 | Ay yeah shining with the moon
伴月明 | Shining with the moon
男:伴月明 | Shining with the moon
女:伴月明 | Shining with the moon
男:伴月明 | Shining with the moon
合:唉… | Hey…
男:两人相好心洽心唉 | The two [of us] will love each other and have joint hearts
千年鐵樹萬年青哎 | 1000 years sago-palm Nippon-lily (what is this metaphor?)
命有恁久情恁長 | The life is very long and the feeling will be very long
交情越久情越深 | The longer we're friends the deeper the friendship
唉呀情越深 | Ay yeah the deeper the friendship
情越深 | The deeper the friendship
女:情越深 | The deeper the friendship
男:情越深 | The deeper the friendship
女:情越深 | The deeper the friendship
合:唉… | Hey…
合:两人講過千年情[唉] | The two [of us] have said (i.e. agreed) to a 1000-year-long friendship (is this a metaphor for everlasting friendship?)
两人相好心對心[唉] | The two [of us] will love each other with hearts confronting each other
牽手河邊照水影 | Holding hands by the river (照水影 = ?)
魚蝦都笑涯两人 | All the fish and crabs smile at us two
唉呀涯俩人 | Ay yeah at us two
女:涯俩人 | At us two
男:涯俩人 | At us two
女:涯俩人 | At us two
男:涯俩人 | At us two
合:唉… | Hey…How do I complete this translation? Is it correct for what I managed?
係南四县客家话无? [=Is this Southern Sixian Hakka?]
Any inputs on the translation or transliteration or characters are welcome. Here are my questions.
- Am I right in guessing the "ngiai-yong" I hear is a colloquial variant of "ngiat-yong | 月样"?
- What does l. 2 (打個結頭丟過梁唉 | Tà kē kiat the̱u tîu kwō lio̱ng ê) mean? Does "ta kiat-theu" mean "make a bond", i.e. marry or some analogous bond?
- Is the spelling of "kiat-theu" OK?
- Am I right in reading l. 3 (千年呀唔見結頭散 | Tshiên nga̱n ya m̱ kiān kiat the̱u sān) as "They will never break up for 1000 years"?
- Am I right in reading the "kiat" in the line "除非柑樹結石榴唉 | Tshu̱-fî kâm sū kiat sȧg-le̱u ê" as "bear, produce" (cfr. "bear fruit" for this use of "bear")?
- What does the line "千年鐵樹萬年青唉 | Tshiên nga̱n thiet sū bān nga̱n tshîn e" mean?
- Is the "thousand years" at the beginning of the last verse a hyperbole for "eternity", "forever"?
- What does "照水影" mean in the line "牽手河邊照水影 | Khân-sù ho̱ piên tsāu sùi yàng"?
- Is it correct to spell that apparent exclamative particle "e" as 唉, or is there a better option? And is that the right tone?