Son Mediu Xhiga
- Mediu xhiga:
The "Mediu Xhiga" is a ritual of Isthmian origin that takes place at weddings, its origin comes from the composition of the words: "Mediu" (which means "half a Mexican real") and "Xhiga" (which means "calabash"). The title of the song would lit. be "half a real in the calabash".
- bicá gui yuze daa:
a festive activity in which a metal frame resembling a bull, with fireworks attached to it, is set alight, and then the person carrying the frame runs around town at night as if chasing people in the streets. Participants dodge the bull when it comes close, especially because the burning fireworks set off sparks that can cause small burns in people's skin or clothes.
- rapto de amor:
a tradition where the groom abducts the woman he wants to marry (they run away). I translated a song specifically about that here.
- tan torito fue a quemar:
refers to the festive activity "toro de fuego" mentioned two verses before.
The cooperation song*
- 1. *The "Mediu Xhiga" is a ritual of Isthmian origin that takes place at weddings, its origin comes from the composition of the words: "Mediu" (which means "half a Mexican real") and "Xhiga" (which means "calabash"). The title of the song would lit. be "half a real in the calabash".
- 2. a godfather of the wedding, his duty was primarily taking care of the calabash with money.
- 3. from the song, the calabash is there for the people attending the wedding to offer money for the bride and groom.
- 4. lit. "because the Zapotec people are accustomed to doing this".
- 5. a. b. half a Mexican real (old currency).
- 6. in exchange for the money they deposit in the calabash, they receive pitchers to dance with during the party. At the end, they break the pitchers (they smash them to the floor) to signal the end of someone's status of being "single" as they are now married.
- 7. lit. 'because their son will wander no more', he's not single anymore.
- 8. I'm unsure of how to go about explaining it, but the men construct it by entwining leaves to make the "roof" of where the party will be held, which is the decorated and secured for the festivities. There's a modern version of it but I forgot what it's called, we have one back home for when it rains and we want to keep the courtyard clean. Here is a video of how the arbor is constructed between 0:21~1:51.
- 9. a tradition where the groom abducts the woman he wants to marry (they run away). I translated a song specifically about that here.
- 10. a festive activity in which a metal frame resembling a bull, with fireworks attached to it, is set alight, and then the person carrying the frame runs around town at night as if chasing people in the streets. Participants dodge the bull when it comes close, especially because the burning fireworks set off sparks that can cause small burns in people's skin or clothes. [Reference]
- 11. lit. "mixed with the people"
- 12. refers to a tradition that I mentioned above, and has been featured in a song here.
- 13. refers to the festive activity "toro de fuego" mentioned two verses before.
- 14. This refers to either one of two things: 1. actual street dogs who are attracted to the food after it's left out for a while or 2. those who were not invited and want to help themselves to what's on the tables.
- 15. lit. 'raw'
- 16. "...to welcome the new". I'm unsure what it's called (it's done during several other celebrations) but it symbolizes "out with the old, in with the new", to welcome to good things in life and cast out the old (the past).
- 17. Remember, "Mediu" and "Medio" mean the same thing, one is in Zapotec and the other in Spanish.
Благодаря! ❤ | ||
2 получени благодарности |
1. | Songs with 2+ languages |
2. | Indigenous songs of Mexico |
1. | Nagolaridxíi (La Llorona) |
2. | Tangu Yú |
3. | Guenda nabáani |
- Влезте или се регистрирайте, за да пишете коментари.
After some time, I've finally come around to translating this (based on the Spanish translation). I'll come back with more visuals once I review the translation one more time. If you're interested, here is a video of the proceedings of a wedding with what's described in the song:
And here (in the first minute of the video) is the arbor I was talking about and the "smashing" of the pitchers: