Occitan and Portuguese

Gaúcho   Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:30 am GMT
Since I'm a novice in antimoon.com I am glad to say I found a discussion with these kind of subject. So, let's start!

There was some time that I found my self very curious about latin dialects in Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland.

Well, I found here a discussion about Occitan from 2004 and was about a real beautiful and old Occitan poem that it is considered an anthem in southern France. It is called "Se canta" ("If it sings"). http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2004/4136.htm

As I were listening and seeing the lyrics of this anthem, I decided to provoke my mind a little bit and, at least, try to translate it to Portuguese, for I am Brazilian. So, with some effort I did it, and I realized how close the 2 languages are, although France and Portugal doesn't have common borders.

So, the result of my translation is below:

Occitan Portuguese

Se canta Se canta

Dejós ma fenèstra Além da minha janela
I a un auselon Há um passarinho
Tota la nuèch canta, Toda a noite canta,
Canta sa cançon Canta sua canção

Se canta, que cante, Se canta, que cante,
Canta pas per ieu, Não canta para mim,
Canta per ma mia Canta para minha amada
Qu'es al luènh de ieu. Que está longe de mim.

Aquelas montanhas Aquelas montanhas
Que tan nautas son, Que tão altas são,
M'empachan de veire Me impedem de ver
Mas amors ont son. Aonde meu amor foi.

Baissatz-vos, montanhas Baixai-vos, montanhas
Planas, auçatz-vos Planícies, alçai-vos
Per que pòsca veire Para que possa ver
Mas amors ont son. Aonde meu amor foi.

Aquelas montanhas Aquelas montanhas
Tant s'abaissaràn, Tanto se abaixarão,
Que mas amoretas Que meus amores
Se raprocharàn. Se reaproximarão.



Once finished with my translation, I could contemplate how wonderful is the richness of the latin languages and dialects and everything it represents. They can say Latin language is dead but for me it didn't die but evolved smoothly in a vast way over time and space.

E. M. d S.
Gaúcho   Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:36 am GMT
Since I'm a novice in antimoon.com I am glad to say I found a discussion with these kind of subject. So, let's start!

There was some time that I found my self very curious about latin dialects in Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland.

Well, I found here a discussion about Occitan from 2004 and was about a real beautiful and old Occitan poem that it is considered an anthem in southern France. It is called "Se canta" ("If it sings"). http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2004/4136.htm

As I were listening and seeing the lyrics of this anthem, I decided to provoke my mind a little bit and, at least, try to translate it to Portuguese, for I am Brazilian. So, with some effort I did it, and I realized how close the 2 languages are, although France and Portugal doesn't have common borders.

So, the result of my translation is below:

Occitan Portuguese

Se canta Se canta

Dejós ma fenèstra Além da minha janela
I a un auselon Há um passarinho
Tota la nuèch canta, Toda a noite canta,
Canta sa cançon Canta sua canção

Se canta, que cante, Se canta, que cante,
Canta pas per ieu, Não canta para mim,
Canta per ma mia Canta para minha amada
Qu'es al luènh de ieu. Que está longe de mim.

Aquelas montanhas Aquelas montanhas
Que tan nautas son, Que tão altas são,
M'empachan de veire Me impedem de ver
Mas amors ont son. Aonde meu amor foi.

Baissatz-vos, montanhas Baixai-vos, montanhas
Planas, auçatz-vos Planícies, alçai-vos
Per que pòsca veire Para que possa ver
Mas amors ont son. Aonde meu amor foi

Aquelas montanhas Aquelas montanhas
Tant s'abaissaràn, Tanto se abaixarão,
Que mas amoretas Que meus amores
Se raprocharàn. Se reaproximarão.



Once finished with my translation, I could contemplate how wonderful is the richness of the latin languages and dialects and everything it represents. They can say Latin language is dead but for me it didn't die but evolved smoothly in a vast way over time and space.

E. M. d. S.
Invité d'honneur   Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:53 pm GMT
Thank you for this interesting translation Gaúcho. Of course one of the most obvious similarity between Portuguese and Occitan is their orthography and in particular nh, lh, and ç. But it wasn't as obvious to me until now how similar their conjugation can be as well.
more   Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:18 am GMT
Occitan is very close to Catalan,not to Portuguese.Closest language to Portuguese is,of course, Spanish,if Galician is treating as a dialect of Portuguese.