Doing Chumburung songs—A taxonomy of styles Gillian Hansford ...

Kye̱eḵpa, ɛsɛsɛ ne̱ ɔɔ waa mo̱
ane̱ŋ ooo.
Boy-after-3-girls, perhaps that’s why she has
done this to me ooo.
Ɛsɛsɛ ne̱ baa waa mo̱ ane̱ŋ
waŋla. (x2)
Ane̱ aye̱ a ko̱we̱ agyi, ne̱ ɔ mo̱ŋ
nya agyi ooo.
N na a ko̱we̱ agyi, ne̱ ɔ mo̱ŋ nya
agyi ooo.
Agyi, mo̱ nyi a ko̱we̱ agyi, ne̱ ɔ
mo̱ŋ nya agyi ooo.
Ɛsɛsɛ ne̱ ɔɔ tɔɔraa mo̱ ooo.
Ɛsɛsɛ ne̱ ɔɔ le̱ŋkpaŋ mo̱ ooo.
N na a ko̱we̱ agyi, ne̱ ɔ mo̱ŋ nya
agyi ooo.
Ɛsɛsɛ ne̱ ɔɔ waa mo̱ ane̱ŋ-aaa.
Perhaps that’s why they have done this to
me indeed.
Our home has borne children, and she did
not get children ooo.
My mother has borne children, and she did
not get children ooo.
Children, my mother has borne children,
and she did not get children ooo.
Perhaps that’s why she troubled me ooo.
Perhaps that’s why she shook me ooo.
My mother has borne children, and she did
not get children ooo.
Perhaps that’s why she has done this to me
always.
Ŋ yɛ eee, ŋ yɛ eee, ŋ yɛ o yii yawa yii yaa ŋyɔɔɔ.
I was told that maybe the mother had charmed the child or never let her do any
household tasks, so when the mother died, the girl was unable to do her work.
This song can also apparently be sung when the women bring a bride to her
husband’s house.
The next sorrow song (Example 14) does have a proverb in it, namely the first
line. The woman singing seems to be in deep depression and says that noone
loves her and she is like a meatstick made with veins and so on, rather than
proper meat. The middle section is in normal speech in what is known as kare̱
kiliŋ, literally “to read a song”, but meaning to explain the song and its
composer. The song was performed by two people from Kumundi in their own
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