Song - "ዓደየ ዓደየ" My Country by Yishak Tewoldemedhin
Song - "ዓደ የ ዓደየ" My Country, My Country by Yishak Tewoldemedhin; a beloved children's song written by one of Eritrea's prominent educators
Memhr Yishak Teweldemedhin, one of Eritrea’s prominent educators during the Italian and British colonial era
This was a beloved children’s song written by one of Eritrea’s prominent educators during the Italian and British colonial era, [Memhr] Yishak Teweldemedhin. It was witten in 1936 during the latest years of the Italian colonial era. A loose English translation is provided below.
The sentiment of the song lies on the የ (“ye”, not added in the English translation for readability) suffix that he appended to the nouns and names of places within the lyrics. In the Tgrnya language, this sound has an endearing tone of affection and love. The lullaby-like melody sounds similar to how a mother would express her love to her child, or a child to her mother. It also adds a sense of closeness and belonging, as in saying “mine” or “my own.” Overall, the song creates a sense of delicate care as rendered by a loving parent to young child.
Song - ዓደየ ዓደየ My Country, My Country by Yishak Teweldemedhin
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ዓደየ ዓደየ - እፈትወኪ ብልበየ
ክርእየኪ ብዓይነየ - ከልዕለኪ ኣብ ርእሰየ
ዓደየ ዓደየኣከለጉዛይ ምስ ሰራየ - ሓማሴን ሰምሃረየ
ደንከለይ ሰንሒተየ - መታሕት ባርካየ ዓደየ ዓደየዓደየ መዚኺ - ቁሊሕ በሊ ንምድርኺ
ኣምህሪ ደቅኺ - ‘ተባረሩ ህዝብኺ
ዓደየ ዓደየወለዲ ሓደራኹም - ኣምህሩ ንደቅኹም
ክፈትዉ ንኣኹም - ክትረኽቡ ጻማኹም ዓደየ ዓደየደቀየ ዕምበባየ - ተማሃሩ ኣሕዋተየ
ክትመርሕዎም ንዳሕሮትየ - ከተጽንዑ ናጽነትየ
ዓደየ ዓደየብምህሮ ዝሰልጠነ - ፍቕሪ ዓዱ ዝወጠነ
ብተኽስያን ዝዓጠነ - ይኸውን በዓል ቅነ
ዓደየ ዓደየ~~
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Losely translated, it reads:
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My Country, My Country - I love you with my heart
I cherish seeing you with my eyes - I want to carry you on my head
My Country, My CountryAkeleguzay with Seraye, Hamasien with Semhar
Denkel with Senhit, the Lowlands of Barka
My Country, My CountryMy country, your mission - Look at your lands
Educate your children - your exiled peoples
My Country, My CountryParents promise to educate your children
For them to love you - To be rewarded for your toils
My Country, My CountryMy children My flowers - Learn my brethren
To lead the next ones - To guarantee [your] freedom
My Country, My CountryHe who is enlightened, who affirmed his love for his country
Who purified the church with incense, becomes the person of the times (also could be translated as “becomes a wiseman”)
My Country, My Country~~
Young Yishak Teweldemedhin