Prayer from CZ to En

Discussion in 'Vocabulary & Translation Help' started by The Animal, Dec 31, 2006.

  1. The Animal

    The Animal Well-Known Member

    My grandmother taught me this prayer. Can comeone translate it to english then rewrite it in Czech? My spelling is based on Czech sounds, I hope it is close enough for you. Here goes, hope it's complete.

    On the lee skool most thra yinks skool o pot thea vee venya iv nois ey moyee dush sheek skool.

    Thankyou. I may have for got some of it, hope I didn't
     
  2. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    Maybe it's :

    Andělíčku, můj strážníčku, opatruj mi mou dušičku.

    My little angel, my little guardian, look after my little soul.
     
  3. The Animal

    The Animal Well-Known Member

    Thanks Eso,

    That sounds like that is correct. :D :D
     
  4. The Animal

    The Animal Well-Known Member

    Dear Eso
    Can you do me another favor? Take the Czech version and and sound it out in english so I will know that I am pronouncing it correctly? Thanks
     
  5. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    That's a problem, because I don't know English pronunciation good enough. But I will try:

    And- (pronounce like "and "in "android")
    -ě- (pronounce like "ye "in "yes")
    -lí- (lee)
    -č- (pronounce like "cz" in "Czech"
    -ku (pronounce like "coo" in "Cook", but short)

    mů- (moo)
    j - ((pronounce like "y "in "yes"))

    strá - (pronounce like "stri "in "strike", but long)
    žníč - (?) ...well, here I'm stuck
     
  6. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    I've got better idea. I played this text through voice synthesizer program a here is result:

    http://vladimir.skach.cz/files/andelicku.wav

    It's not ideal, but I believe it's good enough and it's better then text form.
     
  7. Kanadanka

    Kanadanka Well-Known Member

    This is very rough, but try it this way (I am sure the 'purists' here will be back with dozens of corrections and other suggestions about the vowel qualities, but...here it is)
    Andělíčku, můj strážníčku, opatruj mi mou dušičku.

    Und-yell-each-coo, mooy strazh-neech-koo, op-ut ('up' with 't')-rooy mi (as in Mitch) mow (as in "low" with 'm') doo-shich-coo

    It may not be perfect, but at least this pronunciation will be closer to what it used to sound like when you were little :)

    Happy New Year to all myczechrepublic denizens :)
     
  8. The Animal

    The Animal Well-Known Member

    Thanks for all your help. Sounds like that I have been pronouncing it correctly.
     
  9. Kanadanka

    Kanadanka Well-Known Member

    by the way, there is one more sentence that completes this childhood prayer, Animal
    Andelicku, muj straznicku, opatruj mi mou dusicku
    is followed by

    Telo, dusi opatruj, andelicku strazce muj (sorry, I don't have the Czech keyboard)
    which means
    "The body, the soul (you) guard, little angel, guardian (mine)
    which roughly means "Guard both my body and my soul, my guardian angel"
     
  10. Karel_lerak

    Karel_lerak Well-Known Member

     
  11. Karel_lerak

    Karel_lerak Well-Known Member

     
  12. The Animal

    The Animal Well-Known Member

    Thanks to everyone for help. I didnot know or remember there was a 2nd part to this prayer, but then again she taught us over 28-30 years ago.
     
  13. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    Andělíčku můj strážníčku
    opatruj mi mou dušičku
    opatruj ji ve dne v noci
    od škody a od zlé moci
    tělo duši opatruj
    andělíčku strážce můj.
     
  14. Kanadanka

    Kanadanka Well-Known Member

    wow, eso, I didn't know the middle part and I spent my childhood in CR...
    Thanks. :p
     
  15. Kanadanka

    Kanadanka Well-Known Member

    OMG, I just phoned my friend who also speaks Czech, and she is still on the phone, laughing her head off. She thought the prayer said
    opatruj me ve dne v noci
    od skoly and od nemoci
    it just shows you how kids mishear things and just change the lexicon to make sense to themselves (I used to sing "Zajicek Svejance" and thought it was his name, instead of "zajicek v sve jamce")
     
  16. The Animal

    The Animal Well-Known Member

    This prayer has received alot of responses in a very, very short time.
     
  17. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    To je tak hezká modlitba.
    Ta také se naučím zpaměti. :)
     
  18. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    The meaning of that prayer is very cute. V Americe, we have a children's prayer something like it.

    Now I lay me down to sleep
    I pray the Lord my soul to keep (which in this context means guard).
    If I should die before I wake,
    I pray the Lord my soul to take (meaning allow me in heaven vrs hell).
     
  19. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    Well "If I should die before I wake" never seemed to me cute...
     
  20. Kanadanka

    Kanadanka Well-Known Member

    The prayer my children are familiar with is gentler, and doesn't make one afraid of falling asleep :)

    Now I lay me down to sleep,
    I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
    Thy love be with me through the night
    and keep me safe till morning light.

    My friend's children have yet another version as their nightly prayer
    Now I lay me down to sleep.
    I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
    Please forgive me for doing wrong.
    Make me pure, and wise and strong.
    Guide me safely through the night,
    And wake me with the morning light.
     

Share This Page