Category: translation

Bang a Gong — Still Banging after all these Years

A follow up to my earlier article on the genius of Eric Bolan

“AngelHeaded Hipster was completed in 2018, but due to various scheduling and contractual issues involved with so many artists, the album’s release was delayed several times. At one point, it was scheduled for the fall of 2019, but when everyone involved learned that Bolan would be inducted into the Hall of Fame, the album was pushed once more, to 2020. Although he told colleagues he was worried that the album had been delayed so many times, Willner was gearing up for its release: Among other things, he was hoping to organize AngelHeaded Hipster listening parties for fans in various cities.”

AngelHeaded Hipster

To the end, Willner had his hands full. He’d been approached about a tribute album to George Harrison, and although those plans were never nailed down, he had become obsessed with the music of new-jazz groundbreaker Kamasi Washington and wanted to work with him on a future outing. He was in the early stages of preparing a new TV show, Le Grand Music Hall, that would pair disparate artists in similar ways as his classic late Eighties late-night music series Night Music; the pilot episode was scheduled to be filmed around the time he passed. He had also been approached about having at least one documentary made on his life. “All sorts of things were shaping up,” says Fox. “That he should die at that moment was just unbelievably tragic.”
In the larger scheme, Willner’s friends sense a void left with his passing. “There’s no one to replace him,” says Rundgren. “We’re not going to have anyone who is able to do what he did — thinking the way did, building relationships with musicians and building that level of trust and making them go out on the tightrope and fulfill his crazy ideas. He was always fully aware that failure is on one shoulder and success is on the other. And if there wasn’t the possibility of failure, then there wouldn’t be the same possibilities for fun.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/hal-willner-t-rex-tribute-1050676/

“Get It On”

Well you’re dirty and sweet
Clad in black
Don’t look back
And I love you
You’re dirty and sweet oh yeah

Well you’re slim and you’re weak
You’ve got the teeth
Of the Hydra upon you
You’re dirty sweet
And you’re my girl

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Well you’re built like a car
You’ve got a hubcap
Diamond star halo
You’re built like a car
Oh yeah

You’re an untamed youth
That’s the truth
With your cloak full of eagles
You’re dirty sweet
And you’re my girl

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Well you’re windy and wild
You’ve got the blues
In your shoes and your stockings
You’re windy and wild
Oh yeah

Well you’re built like a car
You’ve got a hubcap
Diamond star halo
You’re dirty sweet
And you’re my girl

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Well you’re dirty and sweet
Clad in black
Don’t look back
And I love you
You’re dirty and sweet oh yeah

Well you dance when you walk
So let’s dance, take a chance
Understand me
You’re dirty sweet
And you’re my girl

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Get It On

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Get It On
Bang a gong
Get It On

Take me
For the meanwhile I’m still thinking

Translation types

Text translation

Source text

“Get It On” Well you’re dirty and sweet Clad in black Don’t look back And I love you You’re dirty and sweet oh yeah Well you’re slim and you’re weak You’ve got the teeth Of the Hydra upon you You’re dirty sweet And you’re my girl Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Well you’re built like a car You’ve got a hubcap Diamond star halo You’re built like a car Oh yeah You’re an untamed youth That’s the truth With your cloak full of eagles You’re dirty sweet And you’re my girl Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Well you’re windy and wild You’ve got the blues In your shoes and your stockings You’re windy and wild Oh yeah Well you’re built like a car You’ve got a hubcap Diamond star halo You’re dirty sweet And you’re my girl Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Well you’re dirty and sweet Clad in black Don’t look back And I love you You’re dirty and sweet oh yeah Well you dance when you walk So let’s dance, take a chance Understand me You’re dirty sweet And you’re my girl Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Get It On Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Get It On Bang a gong Get It On Take me For the meanwhile I’m still thinking

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Translation results

Translation result

“احصل عليه” حسنًا ، أنت قذر ولطيف يرتدون ملابس سوداء لا تنظر للخلف و انا احبك أنت قذر ولطيف أوه نعم حسنًا ، أنت نحيف وأنت ضعيف لديك الأسنان من الهيدرا عليكم أنتِ حلوة قذرة وأنت فتاتي احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه حسنًا ، لقد بنيت مثل السيارة لديك غطاء المحور نجمة الماس هالة أنت بنيت مثل السيارة أوه نعم أنت شاب جامح هذه هي الحقيقة مع عباءتك المليئة بالنسور أنتِ حلوة قذرة وأنت فتاتي احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه حسنًا ، أنت عاصف وبرية لديك البلوز في حذائك وجواربك أنت عاصف وبرية أوه نعم حسنًا ، لقد بنيت مثل السيارة لديك غطاء المحور نجمة الماس هالة أنتِ حلوة قذرة وأنت فتاتي احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه حسنًا ، أنت قذر ولطيف يرتدون ملابس سوداء لا تنظر للخلف و انا احبك أنت قذر ولطيف أوه نعم حسنًا ، ترقص عندما تمشي لذلك دعونا نرقص ، اغتنم الفرصة افهمنى أنتِ حلوة قذرة وأنت فتاتي احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه احصل عليه احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه احصل عليه فرقعة غونغ احصل عليه خذنى في غضون ذلك ، ما زلت أفكر

“ahsil ealayhi” hsnan ، ‘ant qadhir walatif yartadun malabis sawda’ la tanzur lilkhalf w ana ahibuk ‘ant qadhir walatif ‘awh naeam hsnan ، ‘ant nahif wa’ant daeif ladayk al’asnan min alhidra ealaykum ant hulwat qadhira wa’ant fatati ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh hsnan , laqad buniat mithl alsayaara ladayk ghita’ almihwar najmat almas hala ‘ant bunayt mithl alsayaara ‘awh naeam ‘ant shabun jamih hadhih hi alhaqiqa mae eaba’atik almaliyat bialnusur ant hulwat qadhira wa’ant fatati ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh hsnan ، ‘ant easif wabaria ladayk albluz fi hidhayik wajawaribik ‘ant easif wabaria ‘awh naeam hsnan , laqad buniat mithl alsayaara ladayk ghita’ almihwar najmat almas hala ant hulwat qadhira wa’ant fatati ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh hsnan ، ‘ant qadhir walatif yartadun malabis sawda’ la tanzur lilkhalf w ana ahibuk ‘ant qadhir walatif ‘awh naeam hsnan , tarqus eindama tamshi lidhalik daeuna narqus , aightanam alfursa afhimnaa ant hulwat qadhira wa’ant fatati ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh ahsul ealayh ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh ahsul ealayh farqaeat ghungh ahsul ealayh khudhnaa fi ghudun dhalik , ma zilt ‘ufakir

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Following the success of T. Rex’s single, “Hot Love“, the band went on a United States tour. While in New York in March 1971, Bolan asked drummer Bill Legend to help him brainstorm drum patterns for a song idea that would later become “Get It On”. Bolan claimed to have written the song out of his desire to record Chuck Berry‘s “Little Queenie“, and said that the riff was taken from the Berry tune. In fact, a slightly edited line (And meanwhile, I’m still thinking) from “Little Queenie” is said at the fade of “Get It On”. According to producer Tony Visconti, this line was an unscripted ad-lib by Bolan during recording.

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Get_It_On_(T._Rex_song)

Thanks for keeping the memory of Eric Bolan alive.

Bill

Donald is my pet hamster

A very useful pet

I piddle around (some would suggest I piddle on) several languages. These languages differ considerably from one another, they go about the business of Clarifying their thoughts and intentions. They use widely different ways to explain the very object ot their communication.

English went through a massive shift to make the spoken word more clearly resemble the written word, curiously this took place at precisely the time that Gutenberg’s invention was increasing the volume of texts available to the readers of the day. The change to written vs. spoken English is something called the great vowel shift. You may have seen a T-shirt that proclaimed the event:

I survived the great vowel shift!

Arranging the letters on a printing press set contemporary spelling into concrete. The timing of this event could not have been more ill timed. The printed word had to be taught using a misfitting reckoning system. Of course, English went on to become the international language despite all this. Although it did receive some help from the absence of accurate weather forecasts, that event led to the sinking of nearly every ship on its way to defeating the British Empire. The geopolitical significance was enormous.

The great digital information shift occurred during my lifetime, around the 1960s. Learning my second language of German relied on intense time spent in a language-instruction classroom, and reinforced in a language lab — all based on an instructor-led distribution of sounds saved on magnetic tape. Vocabulary building required using an English-German dictionary unti nearly all the leaves fell out. Now I have free access to the findings of Google and can access new languages at a significantly more comfortable state. The change is unfathomable to generations that grew up with these tools widely available and frequently updated.

I also survived the shift from slide rule to pocket calculator

Thanks for reading.

Climbing Language Trees

Prefacing Remarks مرحبا

Hello

Using AI to learn Arabic

Learning language is a gentle art that opens entire universes in return for mere study; it is a means for breaking barriers that lead to separation, misunderstanding, and the brutality of endless war. Mistranslation is inevitable because translations are always approximations; however, deliberate contortion for the sake of a hidden (or open) agenda befouls all sides. Propaganda deliberately twists words to serve political purposes, it engenders mistrust in exchange for self-serving advantage.

Any religious institution that seeks to subdue others by force serves a dark hegemony loosely cloaked in words of false love. Ascribing innate evil to the very existence of a faith’s traditions and customs is false witness of a most devious kind. But uniting that evil with political motivations to sanctify wanton bloodletting of innocents has become the tone of our times. Islamophobia is one such creation, white supremacism is another. Both are forces of systemic hate.

Climbing Language Walls

Complex sets of cases and genders convey the presence of various parts of speech — a tool set not available in uninflected languages such as English. The Saxons who conquered the British Isles brought complex grammar paradigms with them. Then the Vikings arrived. The tool set got tossed in short order — they selected the Gordian solution, cutting that knot asunder and degendering each thing, place, and person while they were at it, thus reducing and replacing each nuance with something we now know as “the.” The resulting language revision led to an enforcement of meaning through word order.

The German language is a major tree branch derived from Proto-Indo-European (PIE). Learning of it’s very existence required reverse engineering, a backward-looking process. The commonalities of scripting systems point to a common geography near present-day Ukraine.

There remain a few isolated non PIE languages in Europe, such as Basque, Hungarian, and Finish; but they are few — influence outside their circle of speakers is tiny.

I had not realized it at the time, but the inflections I memorized in high school Latin classes offered me some insight into the nature of inflected grammar. They are a tool that works to eliminate ambiguity. Prepositions of relative position do just such a thing, as the case may be. Accusative, ablative, dative…

Of course, language trees can range in character, as much as a boab differs from an oak. Farsi does resemble Arabic but is actually a fellow piece of PIE — the Persians adopted Arabic script, but without the root system that is a characteristic of Arabic language. Farsi may look like Arabic, but it is really quite different — a false friend for language learners. For example, “das Gift” is German for “poison”. It appears as an apple in Snow White (Schneewittchen), one offered as a “gift” perhaps.

Arabic is the largest language in Afro-Asiatic, a disparate set of languages that extends from the northwest coast of Africa through Palestine and covering much of southwest Asia. Climbing a different tree as you look at your home tree is what I call a lot of fun.

I liken this experience to extending a tin can from one tree to the other and conversing with a fellow traveler who is climbing onto a branch of PIE. YouTube offers many opportunities for the language learner. For example, you can find someone who also learned German as their second language. The ability to communicate across two very different frames of reference, without the crutch of English. Large fun.

I have found that most Arabic-language learners study it for military and/or fossil-fuel purposes. In both of these cases the object is geopolitical hegemony that continues to shorten the time available to address the catastrophe that is climate nakba (the Arabic word for catastrophe).

Thanks for reading.

cibarA Arabic

I think of Proto-Indo-European as a linguistic continent comprised of many languages — geographies mapped by language. Though PIE has left nothing in writing for her descendants to examine, a process of reverse engineering points to a hub at the greater Ukraine vicinity.

All homo sapiens came from East Africa, the shortest and most easily traversed paths have gone through what is now Palestine. Those who took up residence in the fertile bread-basket of Western Asia stopped to create PIE before proceeding to various points of the compass.

My first steps taken outside the world of English were in German, where I wrestled her complex set of inflections — function signals developed over the millennia on the Northern European Plain — an easily traversed topography as well. The shortest distance between two points takes longer if you must scale mountains along the way.

Arabic doesn’t look three-quarters of a smidgeon like PIE.

Saxons brought German across the channel, The English. Along that path, the “b” became a “v”, the “t” became a “d” and a few other things I shall leave unexamined right now. Vikings made short work of inflections when they occupied Isles, The British. The “t” latched onto the “h” to do something not done in proper German society — sticking the tongue out. A native German-speaking friend once told me that her mother would scold her at any spoken breach, such as allowing your tongue to extend beyond the teeth.
“It’s what the Englanders do. Tut tut. The very idea…”

One of my German students, a Palestinian, introduced me to the Arabic alphabet. I accepted his interest in German as a challenge to learn Arabic, at the time I hadn’t known that Arabic was not one of the PIE tongues. The excerpt of the Qu’ran included below might alert you that Arabic doesn’t look three-quarters of a smidgeon like PIE. Peruse this image for a long take at nine English words. It’s a color-coded snapshot of those nine that elucidate many aspects of Arabic grammar. The Quranic Arabic Corpus provides detail from the hair strands to the toenails.


Quranic Arabic Corpus (67:1)

Search any translation, interpretation, analysis, mistranslation, misinterpretation, or spurious analysis in any Qu’ran 67:1. Take it where you will or where you won’t. Languages should always offer a means for removing barriers, not exacerbating them. Weaponizing translations for propaganda value is a kind of false witness that literally obfuscates communication for a hidden or unstated agenda.

A few closing thoughts:

Arabic language has

  • a script that makes many alphabets (alpha, beta…) based on Latin look hammered and chiseled by comparison.
  • a root system that works as precise architecture — form follows function. It combines beauty with linguistic precision.
  • some amazing flexibility. German, my second language, can concatenate nouns, can use entire prepositional and adverbial phrases to function as adjectives. However, Arabic can incorporate entire sentences into a single word.
  • a different look and feel that distinguishes it from Proto-Indo-European language. Farsi is a PIE language, it’s not based on a root system — even though its words look like Arabic.
  • something for the left-handed student. Arabic allows me to see what I am writing as I write, to sweep a pen across a piece of paper. To pull along a sheet of paper rather than to plow into it.

All my posts on a theme of Arabic Language

All my posts on a theme of German Language

Thanks for reading.