τ' ακούς

What is the best way to translate this 'semi-filler'? Is it like the English 'do y' hear'? The Λεξικό της νεας Ελληνικής γλώσσας says of it:- ΦΡ τ΄ ακούς; τ΄ ~ να λες, για να επιβεβαιώσουμε ή να τονίσουμε κτ. μη αναμενόμενο. This isn't really any help in translating the English equivalent. Perhaps 'are you listening to me!' A few examples might help.:)

Since you like traditional songs...


Τ' ακούς μαυριδερούλα μου

Τ’ ακούς μαυριδερούλα μου
και συ μελαχρινούλα μου

Τι λένε για τα μένανε
κι αλίμονο σε σένανε

Θέλουν να με σκοτώσουνε
και σ’άλλον να σε δώσουνε

Theseus said:

What is the best way to translate this 'semi-filler'? Is it like the English 'do y' hear'? The Λεξικό της νεας Ελληνικής γλώσσας says of it:- ΦΡ τ΄ ακούς; τ΄ ~ να λες, για να επιβεβαιώσουμε ή να τονίσουμε κτ. μη αναμενόμενο. This isn't really any help in translating the English equivalent. Perhaps 'are you listening to me!' A few examples might help.:)

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Theseus, if I understand correctly what a 'semi-filler' is, 'do y' hear?' can be ok in many cases, but it depends on context as usual. It literally means 'do you hear this?'. 'Are you listening to me?' can be ok, too.
Do you have an example?

"Τ' ακούς, τ' ακούς, μωρ' μαύρη γης το τι σου παραγγέλνω;
Ευτούν τον νέον που σου 'στειλα με τους αποθαμμένους,
Μην τον μαράνεις, μαύρη γης, να μην τον αραχλιάσεις,
Τριαντάφυλλο να τον κρατείς, μήλο να τον μυρίζεις."

From SBE's translation in Discussing anything under the sun--Karagouna revisited (with aplologies!) [which see] #12:-

Σειρά σου, σειρά μου δεν έχει. Εγώ έχω ξένα ρούχα να παραδώσω τ’ ακούς.:)

"Τ' ακούς, τ' ακούς, μωρ' μαύρη γης το τι σου παραγγέλνω;
Ευτούν τον νέον που σου 'στειλα με τους αποθαμμένους,
Μην τον μαράνεις, μαύρη γης, να μην τον αραχλιάσεις,
Τριαντάφυλλο να τον κρατείς, μήλο να τον μυρίζεις."

Are you listening, are you listening, black earth, to what I tell you?
This young man that I have sent you to be with the buried,
Let him not lose his bloom, black earth, nor let spiders' webs shroud him,
Rose you should hold him, apple you should scent him.

Thanks for the traditional song, Neikos! I have attempted to translate the words in greyscale. Here is a good example of τ' ακούς that I can't properly translate. Any ideas of a good translation into English:-

Είναι αδίστακτοι το ακούς; Θέλουν τι ζωές μας, θέλουν τον αέρα που αναπνέουμε, την γη που πατούμε. Θέλουν να μας εξευτελίσουν και να μας ταπεινώσουν, θέλουν να χάσουμε το μόνο που μας έχει ... :)

Theseus said:

"Τ' ακούς, τ' ακούς, μωρ' μαύρη γης το τι σου παραγγέλνω;
Ευτούν τον νέον που σου 'στειλα με τους αποθαμμένους,
Μην τον μαράνεις, μαύρη γης, να μην τον αραχλιάσεις,
Τριαντάφυλλο να τον κρατείς, μήλο να τον μυρίζεις."

Are you listening, are you listening, black earth, to what I tell you?
This young man that I have sent you to be with the buried,
Let him not lose his bloom, black earth, nor let spiders' webs shroud him,
Rose you should hold him, apple you should scent him.

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Well done, Theseous! :) You're getting better and better.

I'm not sure about the English equivalent for τ' ακούς. Do y' hear, Are you listening to me, Are you listening... They all seem ok to me.

In the first example, "Σειρά σου, σειρά μου δεν έχει. Εγώ έχω ξένα ρούχα να παραδώσω τ’ ακούς.", I like this:

There's no your turn, my turn. I have to deliver the laundry to a client, do y' hear?


In your translation of the poem, "are you listening", seems natural. It's a good choice, I guess.

Είναι αδίστακτοι το ακούς; Θέλουν τι ζωές μας, θέλουν τον αέρα που αναπνέουμε, την γη που πατούμε. Θέλουν να μας εξευτελίσουν και να μας ταπεινώσουν, θέλουν να χάσουμε το μόνο που μας έχει ...


It looks like Katerina Gogou, but I don't think it's hers.
"Τ' ακούς" doesn't really add something to the meaning, it's used mostly to give some dramatic intensity to the phrase. I guess "Are you listening?" can be used here too, but I'm not sure how it sounds to a native speaker. Have you translated this text too?

Theseus said:

Ευτούν τον νέον που σου 'στειλα με τους αποθαμμένους
This young man that I have sent you to be with the buried

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Theseus, although it makes no big difference in your translation, I suspect that you have been misled by the wrong spelling of *αποθαμμένος (instead of αποθαμένος = πεθαμένος) and interpreted it as originating in θάβω/ θαμμένος, which is certainly not the case.

Thanks, Neikos, for your kind comments on my translation &,Themis, for your correction. You were correct about my confusion. I did indeed derive it from θάβω. So a better translation now would be 'the deceased' or, more starkly, 'the dead'.
As to τ' ακούς, thanks to your help, I think that in English we might say in the first instance 'are you actually listening' &, in the second, perhaps 'can you believe that they are actually so unscrupulous: they want our lives....' The words in bold try to render the nuance in natural spoken English of τ' ακούς. :)
I think Θέλουν τι ζωές μας is a typo for τις ζωές μας.