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Lakota
Original lyrics

Čhaŋté wašté hokšíla l-akhé ištíŋma (Cante waste hoksila lakhe istinma)

Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá
Wé yeló eyá...
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá,
Ya wé yeló eyá
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá,
Wé yeló eyá...
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá,
Ya wé yeló eyá
 
Čhaŋté wašté hokšíla l-akhé ištíŋma
Haŋhépi kiŋ wašté
Wé yeló eyá
 
Čhaŋté wašté hokšíla l-akhé ištíŋma
Haŋhépi kiŋ wašté
Wé yeló eyá,
Wé yeló eyá,
Wé yeló eyá.
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá
Wé yeló eyá...
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá,
Ya wé yeló eyá
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá,
Wé yeló eyá...
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá,
Ya wé yeló eyá
 
Čhaŋté wašté hokšíla l-akhé ištíŋma
Haŋhépi kiŋ wašté
Wé yeló eyá
 
Čhaŋté wašté hokšíla l-akhé ištíŋma
Haŋhépi kiŋ wašté
Wé yeló eyá,
Ya wé yeló eyá
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá
Wé yeló eyá...
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá,
Ya wé yeló eyá
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá,
Wé yeló eyá...
 
Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá,
Ya wé yeló eyá
 
Čhaŋté wašté hokšíla l-akhé ištíŋma
Haŋhépi kiŋ wašté
Wé yeló eyá
 
Čhaŋté wašté hokšíla l-akhé ištíŋma
Haŋhépi kiŋ wašté
Wé yeló eyá,
Wé yeló eyá,
Wé yeló eyá.
 
English
Translation

Lakota Lullaby (My Kind-Hearted Boy Go To Sleep)

Ah I say, I say to you
I am speaking to you...
 
Ah I say, I say to you
To you I am saying it
 
Ah I say, I say to you
I am speaking to you...
 
Ah I say, I say to you
To you I am saying it
 
My kind-hearted boy go to sleep
Tomorrow will be nice
I am speaking to you
 
My kind-hearted boy go to sleep
Tomorrow will be nice
I am speaking to you,
I am speaking to you,
I am speaking to you.
 
Ah I say, I say to you
I am speaking to you...
 
Ah I say, I say to you
To you I am saying it
 
Ah I say, I say to you
I am speaking to you...
 
Ah I say, I say to you
To you I am saying it
 
My kind-hearted boy go to sleep
Tomorrow will be nice
I am speaking to you
 
My kind-hearted boy go to sleep
Tomorrow will be nice
I am speaking to you,
To you I am saying it
 
Ah I say, I say to you
I am speaking to you...
 
Ah I say, I say to you
To you I am saying it
 
Ah I say, I say to you
I am speaking to you...
 
Ah I say, I say to you
To you I am saying it
 
My kind-hearted boy go to sleep
Tomorrow will be nice
I am speaking to you
 
My kind-hearted boy go to sleep
Tomorrow will be nice
I am speaking to you,
I am speaking to you,
I am speaking to you.
 

Translations of "Čhaŋté wašté hokšíla..."

English
Comments
BaileyIlCaneBaileyIlCane    Sat, 23/08/2025 - 06:02

Haŋhépi kiŋ wašté is not "tomorrow will be nice"
Haŋhépi - night
kiŋ - def article
wašté - good. thus; the night is good (lakota is pretty much "to be" for pretty much everything so there is no word for "is" neccesary to convey to be)

Čhaŋté wašté hokšíla l-akhé ištíŋma
Čhaŋté - Heart wašté - good, again
hokšíla - little boy
ištíŋma - fall asleep
l-akhé - I am unsure what this one means and I'll have to ask other speakers about this, different covers of the songs change the spelling of what is uttered here so it makes it difficult to discern though the general meaning of Čhaŋté wašté hokšíla l-akhé ištíŋma, is "good hearted boy go to sleep"

Ah hí yé, yo hí eyá Wé yeló eyá. - these parts in the song are more of just joik, it doesn't mean anything, if it did as Wé means he/she/it bleeds and yeló is a statement made by a man though I doubt it means that but again I will double check with others, but certainly it does not mean "I am speaking to you"