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Item details
Item ID
KK1-1338
(Collection Details)
Title Magwi gaw nbung hte ga hkrum ai (The Sacred Language of Elephants) with English translation
Description Translation (Htoi San)
My grandmother told me this story called 'an elephant and air have the same language'. Therefore, we can't say bad to elephants when we go into the forest. Elephants and Nam Hkuk birds spoke the same language too. When we are in the forest, we should call elephants 'grandpa'. We can't say the word 'elephant' in the forest. We can't also say 'the animal with small eyes', 'the animal with big ears', or 'the animal with a big body'. When the air heard something bad about the elephant, it told the elephant about it. Then, the elephant got angry and trampled that person to death. It is true that the elephant does that. There is a witness who had faced that kind of incident in our village. So, I believe that the stories told by our elders are true. We have never seen an elephant in our village, Htingnu Kawng. There is Nahpaw Mt on this side of our village, and Nam Bang river lies on the other side. There was a Chinese man who lived together with his mother. He often got angry at his mom and didn't listen to her. One day, he went into the forest to cut the trees down with his friends. He said, "If I get an elephant, I will let it pull these logs to my house." Then, his Kachin friends warned him not to say that in the forest. But he didn't care and said, "What should I care? How can the elephant be here? No way!" At dusk, an elephant appeared and trampled him. His waist was broken because of the elephant. Everyone was shocked. They were shocked by the elephant. They hardly saved their Chinese friend from the elephant. We believe that it is the real incident. This is the end.


Transcription (La Ring)
Magwi gaw da nbung hte ga hkrum ai da nye dwi ni hkai dan ai. Dai majaw magwi ni nam hkan e hkawm yang da magwi ni hpe gaw nmai shatan ai da. Wora nbung hte mung hkrum ai da nam hkuk nam u hte mung ga hkrum ai da. Dai majaw e nam hkan e hkawm yang e magwi nngu ai sha ji dwi ngu ra ai da. Myi kaji law na pa law magwi kawng kaba law ngu na mung nmai tsun ai da. Dai majaw e dai magwi gaw hpa re da ngu yang she wo nbung e tsun dan nna shinggyim masha ni dai tsun ai ni hpe e mu yang ding sa sat kau wa ai da nga ai. Maumwi gaw maumwi dai hku nga ai gaw kaja wa teng ai lam hpe gaw e anhte kahtawng kaw langai mi sakse nga ai. Dai majaw kaba ai ni hkai ai maumwi teng na re ngu kam ai. Htaw htingnu kawng anhte htingnu kawng ngu ai gaw magwi ngu gaw kalang ma ndu yu ai yaw. Magwi ma kalang ma ndu yu ai htingnu kawng a ndai maga de gaw ndai maga de gaw nahpaw bum rai ndai maga de gaw e nam bang rai re nam bang hka hka hku de le. E hka hku de she dai htaw Miwa ga de na sa ai Miwa la wa kanu dinggai hte rau nga ai Miwa la wa she kanu hpe mung e grai pawt matsa kau da rai nna she kanu shaga ai mung nau nmadat ai da. Dai she shing rai nna she dai shani manang ni hte e hpun kran sa ai da. Dai nam bang hka hku de hpun kran sa ai wa she e shani tup wa she "Dai magwi lu yang gaw ndai ni hpe manai di shangun di na lo garawt wa shangun nta de garawt wa di shangun di na lo" ngu yang she dai manang ni gaw shi saw sa ai Jinghpaw la ni gaw "E hkau e hkum ngu lo nmai ai da. Magwi gaw e nbung hte ga hkrum ai re nga hkum ngu" ngu yang she "Hpa nra ai law ndan ngan re e chyip hte chyap re kaw mi gaw gara kaw na magwi sa wa na law" ngu. Dan ngu jawm tsun nga yang wa kade nna ai jan garai ndu shi yang wa magwi langai mi hprawt rai na dai la wa hpe e kabye kau nna nang mashi hten mat ai Miwa la langai mi nga ai le anhte ga de. E teng na hku rai nga yawng grai mau ai da. Dan rai magwi mung galoi mung ndu yu re ai de e dai Miwa la wa e magwi kabye tawn da ai nga shanhte jawm marawn je la ai nga. Dai gaw teng man ai re rai na re ngu myit la ai. Gai htum sai.
Origination date 2017-02-18
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/KK1/1338
URL
Collector
Keita Kurabe
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Countries
Myanmar - MM
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Language as given Jinghpaw
Subject language(s)
Jingpho - kac
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Content language(s)
Jingpho - kac
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Dialect Standard Jinghpaw
Region / village Northern Myanmar
Originating university Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Operator
Data Categories primary text
Data Types Sound
Discourse type narrative
Roles Keita Kurabe : depositor
M. Lu Htoi : speaker
DOI 10.4225/72/598b36b06f306
Cite as Keita Kurabe (collector), Keita Kurabe (depositor), M. Lu Htoi (speaker), 2017. Magwi gaw nbung hte ga hkrum ai (The Sacred Language of Elephants) with English translation. EAF+XML/MPEG/VND.WAV. KK1-1338 at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/598b36b06f306
Content Files (3)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
KK1-1338-A.eaf application/eaf+xml 18.8 KB
KK1-1338-A.mp3 audio/mpeg 2.56 MB 00:02:47.836
KK1-1338-A.wav audio/vnd.wav 92.4 MB 00:02:47.831
3 files -- 95 MB -- --

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Collection Information
Collection ID KK1
Collection title Kachin folktales told in Jinghpaw
Description Recordings of Kachin folktales and related narratives in Jinghpaw. These materials were collected by Keita Kurabe, Gumtung Lu Awng, Sumdu Ja Seng Roi, Hpauhkum Htu Bu, Labang Tu La, Gumtung Htu Nan, and Lashi Seng Nan as part of community-based collaborative fieldwork in northern Myanmar. A total of 2,491 stories with 2,481 ELAN files, 2,481 transcriptions, and 1,369 translations are currently available (March 25, 2024). Transcriptions were contributed by Gumtung Lu Awng, Pausa La Ring, Galang Lu Hkawng, Sumdu Ja Seng Roi, Hpauhkum Htu Bu, and Keita Kurabe. Stories were translated by Nbanpa Rita Seng Mai, Sumlut Gun Mai, Lazing Htoi San, Maran Seng Pan, Dumdaw Mike Tu Awng, Nhkum Htoi Awng, and Keita Kurabe.

Animated stories are available at:

https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KK3
https://www.youtube.com/@kachinfolktales
https://www.facebook.com/KachinStories

Other Kachin culture and history are available at:

https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/KK2

Our research was made possible under the support of JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP17H04523, JP20K13024, JP20H01256, Linguistic Dynamics Science 3 (LingDy3) from Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS), and JSPS Program for Advancing Strategic International Networks to Accelerate the Circulation of Talented Researchers "A collaborative network for usage-based research on lesser-studied languages."
Countries
Myanmar - MM
To view related information on a country, click its name
Languages
Jingpho - kac
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Access Information
Edit access Nick Thieberger
Keita Kurabe
View/Download access
Data access conditions Open (subject to agreeing to PDSC access conditions)
Data access narrative
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