ritual singers

Oborište 2

14 (MM) xòdexa li mu na vrèmeto momìčeta
Did [unmarried] girls go out on that occasion in the old days?

15 (a) ə xòdexme
Well, we did.

16 (c) mi xòdexa xòdexa
They did, they did.

17 (MM) sàmo momìčeta xòdexa
Did only girls go out?

18 (a) sàmo momìčeta
Only girls.

19 (MM) kakvì mu ku koì momìčeta do kojà vɤ̀zras momìčeta
Which kind of girls? Which girls? Girls up to what age?

20 (a) ami učenìci dokɤd’à desetìna dvanàese godìni
Well, schoolgirls. Up to ten or twelve years old.

22 (a) takìva momìčeta sɤbìrat sə pèt momìčeta ednò za kumà
Such girls. Five girls get together and one [more] as “godmother” –

26 (a) dvè po dvè pèea
they’d [go out] two by two and sing.

42 (a) na velìden ˀotìvat na derèto nòsat buàlkata okɤ̀pat a
on Easter they go to the river, they take the laundry paddle and bathe it.

43 (MM) na kumàta
[The one belonging] to the “godmother”.

44 (a) na u kumàta
[Yes,] “the godmother”.

46 (a) tàa dèto e
The one that was …

47 (MM) kumà na làzarkite
… “godmother” of the “lazarki” (girls that sing in procession on St. Lazar’s day).

48 (a) na làzarkite ìdat na derèto dèk ne presɤ̀:va derèto
… with the “lazarki”. They go to the river, to a place where it never dries up,

49 (a) okɤ̀pat buàlkat tàm dèt še bùame drèite è
they bathe the laundry paddle in the place where we launder the clothes –

51 (a) na onovà dɤrvò mu kàzvame buxàlka i sa vrɤ̀štat
that piece of wood, we call it a laundry paddle – and [then] they come back.

52 (a) ìdat u kumàta u tèjnia dvòr tìa sčukàle bulgùr
They go to yard of the “godmother’s” house; they’ve already processed the bulgur

63 (a) še ni s polòžat si trapèza takà
and they’ll lay out for us a festive table, and such.

64 (MM) tovà sè u kumàta stàva mm
And all that happens at the “godmother’s” house, yes?

65 (a) sè u kumàta da
All at the “godmother’s”, yes …

66 (d) u kumàta tàa ka na baštàta
At the “godmother’s”, she – at the house of the “godmother’s” father.

67 (a) polòžat ə trapèza
They set out the festive table,

68 (d) na kumàta u baštàta
At the father of the godmother.

69 (a) nas’àdame ednì ottùk ednì ottùk nasìpat ni kàša
we take our seats, some here, some there; they dish out kasha for us,

70 (a) ob’àdvame i zanesèm èjca tə tùrnem tàm
we eat a meal, we take eggs, and put them there

71 (a) na màsata na lazarkìn’ətə
on the table for the main Lazar-singer.

74 (MM) dobrè tàzi godìna ednò momìče e kumà drùgata godìna
Fine. So this year one girl is “godmother”. [What about] the next year?

75 (a) na drùgata godìna pa drùgo
There’s another one next year –

79 (a) redùvat sə
They take turns

96 (a) pràvea vàjdudùlki ima f sèl
The “vaydudulki” [performers in rain-making rituals] would –

98 (a) vàjdudùlki segà prìmerno tàa mi e sestrà
“Vaydudulki”, well – For instance one was my sister,

99 (a) ama i nàj màlkatḁ istɤrsàka mu kàzvame
but the youngest one. We call it “the baby of the family”.

100 (d) nàj napòsle kojà se e rodìla
The one that was born the latest.

119 (d) polìvame dudùlkata
We pour water on the "vaydudulka" (the center of the rain ritual, the one decorated with greenery)

120 (MM) è ə s’àko momìče li mòže da bɤ̀de vàjdudùlka
And can any girl be the “vaydudulka”?

121 (a) sàmo koè sa e rodìlo nàj pòsle
Only the one that was born the most recently.

122 (d) istɤrsàka
The baby of the family.

123 (a) sled nègo da nèma
After her there mustn’t be –

124 (d) poslèdnoto
The last one.

126 (a) sled nègo da nèma drùgo
There mustn’t be any one after her.

127 (d) ako ìma čètiri momìčenca f ednà kɤ̀šta poslèdnoto
[If there’s] four girls in one house [it has to be] the last one [born].

129 (d) istɤrsàka dèto e
The one that is the baby of the family.

130 (a) momìčeta momčèta koèto e vèče nàj pòsle
The one that’s the last [to be born, of all] the girls and boys –

131 (a) tò se prài na vàjdudùlka
that’s the one that they make the “vaydudulka”.

132 (MM) dà dà po n’àkoj selà fàštat cìganče da bɤ̀de
Yes, yes. In some villages they get a gypsy girl to be –

133 (a) nìe ne smè pravìle
We did not do [that]

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Comments and questions may be addressed to bdlt@berkeley.edu.

Recommended Model for Citations

Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition [2016] (http://www.bulgariandialectology.org, visited on 1 March 2016)
Babjak 1: 13-15. In: Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition [2016] (http://www.bulgariandialectology.org, visited on 1 March 2016)

by Dr. Radut