Ήρτε προυινιάτκα αζνάρωτος κι καυλωμένος για τζουμχούρ

[Theseus]

This poem, drawn to our attention by Daeman, appears in slang.gr:-

Ήρτε προυινιάτκα αζνάρωτος κι καυλωμένος για τζουμχούρ.

«Αζνάρωτ’ η βρακούδα σ’
στο μεγ’ντάν’ η μπεγλεμπούδα σ’
τα κδουνέλια πέρα δώθε
κι όσο σ’ερτ η γιόροξ μπώθε».

«Γαμπρός μας αξεζνάρωτος
και αξεβρακωτένιος
ο κώλος τ’ έναι μαλλιαρός
κι ο πούτσος του μπρουτζένιος».

Could a colleague annotate it, or rewrite it in standard Greek? I understand the first line, thanks to 'Man. I apologise for the second verse, which I understand apart from the last word. So that can be left, apart from μπρουτζένιος.:blush:

 

[Earion]

μπρουτζένιος is simply colloquial for μπρούτζινος, the brazen one (don’t ask me what a μπρούτζινος πούτσος is ). All these αζνάρουτους jibberish is an attempt to record in writing the local pronunciation of the Lesbian dialect. Take it as a variation of the standard Greek αζωνάρωτος: without a ζωνάρι, wearing no belt.

Αζνάρωτ’ η βρακούδα σ’ > αζωνάρωτη η βρακ-ούδα σου
στο μεγ’ντάν’ η μπεγλεμπούδα σ’ > στο μεϊντάνι η μπεγλεμπ-ούδα σου
τα κδουνέλια πέρα δώθε > τα κουδουν-έλια πέρα δώθε
κι όσο σ’ερτ η γιόροξ μπώθε > κι όσο σου έρθει η όρεξη άμπωθε

 

[Theseus]

Thanks so much, Earion. You have been very busy on my behalf today. :)

 

[Marinos]

If I understand well from the slang.gr article, it's the dialect of Limnos, not Lesbos.
The obscure τζουμχούρ is the Turkish cumhur, meaning "gathering, crowd". I cannot tell if the Limniot meaning is something like "company", "fight", or something else.

 

[Duke_of_Waltham]

Ha! Cumhur as in cumhuriyet, the word for "republic" and a well-known newspaper. Didn't expect to end up here when I saw this thread's title, but such is the magic of Lexi...

 

[Theseus]

Thanks, Marinos, & Duke. The meaning of most of the words is clear now. Cumhur/τζούμχουρ in context is surely 'company' here. Still unsure about μπεγλεμπούδα unless it's a diminutive of μπαγλαμάς, like μπαγλαμαδάκι? And αμπώνω in this context I don't quite understand or am I being naive?

 

[daeman]

...
«Αζνάρωτ’ η βρακούδα σ’
στο μεγ’ντάν’ η μπεγλεμπούδα σ’
τα κδουνέλια πέρα δώθε
κι όσο σ’ερτ η γιόροξ μπώθε»

To put it somewhat bluntly: Your pants are down, your "tail" is on the loose, out in the open, your "jewels" are dangling, so push as much as you feel like it.

μπώθε / άμπωθε / άμπωχνε: imperative (continuous) of the verb αμπώθω / αμπώχνω = σπρώχνω.

Not at all certain about it, but perhaps μπεγλεμπούδα has something to do with μπεγλέρι.

 

[Theseus]

And there was I thinking the first stanza, although occasionally dubious in content, would be relatively mild in meaning! I took the 'bells going to & fro to bea church bells!! Μπεγλεμπούδα was wholly obscure: I took it to be connected with bağlamak or a diminutive of μπαγλαμάς, like μπαγλαμαδάκι. I don't know any Turkish word like it meaning 'tail', unless that was an inspired guess. Μεγ'ντάν´[meydan] I thought was literal 'in the town square'. Visions of a man playing a baglama with church bells in the background...Thanks for the much needed cold water you have poured on my forlorn attempt.:lol:

 

[altan]

The Arabic word "cumhur" was commonly used in Turkish for "the people" and sometimes for "community". But it is almost a forgotten one, only remaining in cumhurbaşkanı (president of republic) and cumhuriyet (republic)

 

[Theseus]

Thanks for that note, altan.

 

[Duke_of_Waltham]

The Arabic word "cumhur" was commonly used in Turkish for "the people" and sometimes for "community". But it is almost a forgotten one, only remaining in cumhurbaşkanı (president of republic) and cumhuriyet (republic)

That's actually not much different from the Greek δήμος, which is no longer found with its original meaning of "the people" but has taken on that of "municipality" (or "council", in British common usage). That said, it has probably proved more fertile in Greek than cumhur has in Turkish, with derived terms like δημοκρατία ("democracy, republic"), δημοτικός ("popular, folk (as in song)" or "municipal"), επιδημία ("epidemic") and a bunch of other, more specialised ones.