Carayan Journal

Home Hymn Hubad:
Translation as Disentangling Locations
of Ethnic Identities and Home Claims

by Arlene Yandug

My choice of a local hymn for this translation project was an immediate, almost instinctive decision on my part.  It was a decision prompted by my poetics on poetry being deeply entwined with place as “homeland,” a concept I had previously developed in the preface of my Creative Writing thesis.  As explained there, the hymn which is a homage to Bukidnon is a hidden muse in my writing: when I write, this hymn which has been entrenched in my consciousness since I was in grade school, could have been at the back of my head, sustaining my poetic vision as writer.

However, while my thesis dwells for the most part on the poetic process in the English language, this paper explores hymn as expression for home claims in a place as ethnically diverse as Bukidnon.  This paper examines the unique intricacies involved in translating a song from English to Cebuano or from Binukid to Cebuano and shows how such intricacies reflect the ethnolinguistic and cultural viewpoints of composers and translators.

In this connection, this paper participates in the recent movement of translation studies that consider the text in its cultural environment.   Susan Bassnett and Lefevere in their introduction of the book Translations, History and Culture (1990) have undermined the linguistic theories solidly entrenched in translation study and practice in the previous generations, as they focus on the connection between translation and culture (11).  In the same book which features essays that generally represent the “cultural turn,” translation among other things is considered a “rewriting,” a term originally used by Lefevere in a much larger scale, but, as explained by Munday, is also used to show how translators themselves have their own purposes or agenda in their translations (194-196).  As rewriting, translation ceases to be an acquiescent activity subordinate to a supposedly superior original.  As rewriting, translation can in fact question and recontextualize the source text and is thus viewed a critical, creative act.

In a similar way, translation in this project recognizes and questions the Bukidnon hymn at the same time.  While it recognizes the patent value of the hymn, it challenges the language through which it is expressed. Why English? If home hymn is meant to express connectedness to place, shouldn’t it be written in the mother tongue?

It goes without saying then that translation here is intent-driven.  What drives the project is ethnic identification through a preference for the vernacular language. This purposive stance runs parallel along the “committed approaches” used in many translations today.  The term “committed approaches,” first used by Brownlie, refers to works which show how translators reveal their agenda and their consequent manipulation of the text (qtd. in Munday 208).

In the initial stage of this project, there were technical problems that I had to resolve straightaway. For instance, I recognized minor errors in the English text which could have been typographic or scribal in nature. Thus, I took it upon myself to correct one or two instances of lapses on subject-verb agreement since these were just superficial errors.

A more serious concern, however, was the hazy provenance of the English text.  Who composed it? What were the circumstances that led to its composition? Tracing its provenance inevitably led me to its Binukid variant which I also translated into Bisaya through the help of Ms Lumin Sario, a friend and fellow teacher who is fluent in the Binukid language.

Thus, this project in its final form covers three key languages:  English for the source text, Binukid for the variant text, and my Cebuano-Bisayan version.

While the main target text is the Cebuano-Bisayan hymn which is a “rewriting” of the English and Binukid hymns, the paper also offers Bisayan translations of both English and Binukid texts. My purpose in these minor translations that verge on the instrumental model is to show the stylistic and emotive differences between the English and Binukid songs. In addition, I’ve also provided an English translation of the Binukid hymn for non-Bisayan readers.

In this project, as I tried to grapple with the usual problems surrounding correspondence, sonority and poetic license, I came face to face with more fundamental questions such as, “Does my translation stand up to the connective value of the original song? Is it adequately musical? Why translate? What is at stake in the Bisayan version?  Is it worth all the trouble?

The sections below are my way of elucidating the points and key questions that I have just raised.

 Hymn As Poetry of Place

Like any town hymns that proliferate all over the archipelago, “Bukidnon My Home” is a paean to the place of one’s birth.  In this song, the persona yearns to go back to his homeland where the scenery brings sweet memories to him.

The poetic tension in the English text lies in the suggestion that the persona, despite having gone to far places, is not content (Wherever I may roam/ The distant land to see/ I long to go back soon to sweet Bukidnon home) and consequently wants to return home (“where love and joy never dies”). Home is idyllic as shown in the land’s topographical features: beautiful mountains, old forests, and sky. In fact the name Bukidnon (derived from “bukid”) already evokes this lush landscape.

In relation to this, one important subtext of the song is that home is far-flung.  As it is a landlocked region, Bukidnon, for a long time, was far from the center of social mobility and commercial activities.  In fact, as mentioned by Echaves and Burton, it was only in the 1990s, that Bukidnon began to rise from its economic stagnation (1).  There are many factors of course accounting for this stagnation, but in relation to the hymn’s resonance, one such factor is its remoteness.  The persona, perhaps a man consumed by wanderlust, left home to explore other places, more likely urban and developed.  The chorus, in fact, implies that the persona’s vantage is the distant land, and his singing a yearning for home as expressed in the line:  “There my heart yearns to be/ In faraway Bukidnon land.”  The words “there” and “faraway” establish the distance and explain the song’s wistful quality.

In “Bukidnon Kanak Ha Banuwa” (Binukid), however, this tension is absent.  The persona’s standpoint is home, not the distant land, as indicated by the line “Dini ta Bukidnon”  (Here in Bukidnon).  The persona may have roved to other places as cited in the first stanza, but he is back in his home ground. Perhaps, this explains the restraint of the song.  Unlike the English version, the Binukid is candid and spare in expression.

In point of fact, it merely concatenates the features of the landscape:   mountains, hills, rice fields, plains, pastureland, and pineapple plantation (yes, in this order).   The rice fields, pastureland and pineapple farms which have strong economic implications are not found in the English hymn.  Moreover, this technique of enumeration is continued in the second stanza which describes the many conditions of the sky.  The sky is variously described as shaded, sun-kissed, windblown, rain-soaked.  What is interesting in this technique is that it deviates from the typical description of the sky as a mere pictorial view of sunrise and sunset.  The syntax in Binukid (see below) shows how the various elements such as wind, sun, and rain act upon the sky, suggesting the cyclic pattern of seasons that shape agricultural life.

Binukid:
Langit din piglambungan
Pig-aldawan, kalamagan
Singanam uranan

(Its sky shaded,
Sunlit, windblown
Sometimes rain-soaked)

The most significant difference of the Binukid from the English text, therefore, is its emphasis on land not merely as scenic but, more important, as means of livelihood: “Alan-alan kauyagan.” (All are means of living.)  This line, absent in English, is the poetic energy of the song as it is repeated in the second chorus clinching the idea of place as source of life.

The valuation of the two songs then varies in a crucial way: while the English text places importance on the emotional connectivity between the wanderer and his place of origin, the second celebrates place as a source of sustenance.  Thus, the English hymn sounds personal and emotional as it harps on the separation between the singer and his home ground; while the Binukid hymn sounds celebratory and communal in its perception of place as source of life.

Perhaps, it is not pure coincidence that the language of the first hymn is English as this is the language of mobility and progress; while the Binukid language naturally expresses the sentiment and sensibility of native dwellers who are deeply connected to their home ground.

This is the reason why I consider the Binukid not really a translation, but a variant of the source hymn.  The English text is important only in so far as it serves as an impetus, a source that inspires the composition of the Binukid text.  In fact, while both songs are similar in the opening stanza, they begin to vary significantly in the chorus.

My minor translations then of the two texts into Bisaya are cognizant of these viewpoints and the subsequent differences in their content and expression.

Source Language:  English
Target Language:  Cebuano-Bisaya

AKONG BUKIDNON

Bisan asa ako
Moduaw sa layo
Gahandum mubalik
sa yutang natawhan.
Bukid nga matahom,
Lunhawng mga lasang,
Mga handurawan
Sa yutang gihandum.

(Korus 2x):
Dughan ko gimingaw
Sa halayong kabukiran.
Didto sa bughawng langit
Ang kalipay ‘di mamatay.

Source Language:  Binukid
Target Language:  Cebuano-Bisaya

BUKIDNON NATAWHAN KONG YUTA 

Bisan asa ako,
Maghandum mouli,
Dinhi sa Bukidnon
Yuta kong natawhan
Bukid nga mahabug
Lasang nga malabong
Patag nga maluag
Dapit nga matahom

(Korus 1):
Kabukiran, kabalayan
basakan, kapatagan
Pastolan, kapinyahan
Tanan panginabuhian.

(Korus 2):
Ang langit mo-alum-om
masidlakan, mahanginan,
Usahay maulanan
Tanan panginabuhian.

In terms of content, my major concern is that my translation of the first hymn conveys the distance of the speaker from his home ground.  This I try to effect through the second line “Gahandum mubalik sa yutang natawhan.”  In the chorus, I use the adverb “Didto” (“There” referring to Bukidnon), to emphasize the persona’s distant standpoint. The whole line goes: “Didto sa bughawng langit”  (“There in the blue skies”) which is a metonymic reference to Bukidnon as an open place where unobstructed skies are seen.  This is a slight detour from the English line, “Under its blue, starry skies”  which I find problematic on two counts. First, “blue and starry skies” is a self-contradiction that doesn’t work:  the skies cannot be blue and starry at the same time.  Moreover, under the sky is an expression that works naturally in English but sounds pompous in Bisaya.  “Ilawom sa langit,” or “ubos sa langit” while correct calls attention to itself.

In the full English version (by the way, only the first half is sung officially), the last line “In all Bukidnon mind” metonymically implies the whole community and signals the shift from personal to plural. In the target text, I translated it as “sa handumanan ko” (“In my memory” ) to make the expression consistently singular and intimate.

In terms of diction, the slight difference can be gleaned in the first stanza of both songs. The English text, being more emotionally open has more abstract words such “matahom” (lovely), handurawan (memories) which is mentioned twice. In the Binukid, the description is sharper.  Ex:  mahabog (tall) malabong (thick), and maluag (vast).

While the Binukid hymn seems constrained by the lean structure of the original song, it makes a clever expansion by giving two slight variations of the chorus.  When the chorus is repeated, its lyrics change while maintaining the same melody, thus giving the persona/singer some leeway for extending the idea of place as source of livelihood.

Chorus 1
Kabukiran, kabalayan
basakan, kapatagan
Pastolan, kapinyahan
Tanan panginabuhian.

Chorus 2
Ang Langit mulandong
masidlakan, mahanginan,
Usahay maulanan
Tanan panginabuhian.

One important discovery worth citing is that it is delightfully easier to translate the Binukid song.  “Easier” does not necessarily mean that the song is simplistic and unchallenging.  The absence of discomfort derives from the strong linguistic affinities of the Binukid and the Bisaya languages. Coming from the same region, both languages have strong similarities not only in terms of sound (uranan/ulanan), syllabication (kauyagan/kabuhian), and  vocabulary (langit, basakan, kapatagan, are same in both languages), but also in terms of cultural grounding. The emphasis on the economic significance of place, for instance, does not sound “off key” in Binukid and Bisaya as it would in the English version.

Thus, I happily let my Bisayan translation run closely parallel along the Binukid text.

 Disentangling Languages and Home Claims

The choice of Bisaya as target language seems a natural decision on my part as translator.  But it is not an innocent decision of course. It implies my own ethno-linguistic standpoint and thus evokes the larger backdrop of the ethnic diversity of Bukidnon and of Mindanao in general.

Mindanao is home to most of the country’s Muslim population (consisting of various ethnic groups such as the Maranao, Maguindanao, Tausug and Banguingui) and to the various indigenous tribes collectively known as Lumad or natives.  The province of Bukidnon, in particular, is comprised of seven Lumad or ethnic groups, namely:  Bukidnon, Higaonon, Talaandig, Manobo, Matigsalog, Tigwahanon, Umayamnon, not to mention the large segment of Visayan group to which I belong.  The large presence of the Visayan can be traced back to the heavy migration of people from Visayas (and Luzon) to Mindanao, spurred by government-sponsored resettlement programs – first Spanish and later American –  aimed at taking control of strategic areas and curbing the Muslims’ control of the south.  As a result of these colonial programs, the indigenous groups were pushed to the interior as they became ironically the minority of their land.

This is a contextual substrate I felt I need to expose from the beginning to clarify for myself and my reader the larger historical-cultural framework of this translation. In the light of this background, the English hymn is a manifest colonial legacy of the Americans. Attributed to a local historian, Filomeno Bautista,  the hymn is believed to have been written between 1925 and 1930 (“Bukidnon My Home:  Official English Version of the Bukidnon Hymn”), a time when the English language had considerably taken root in the country via education as a medium of instruction.  Imitative of Anglo-American models, the hymn reflects the literature produced at that time, indicating Romantic influences in its pastoral depiction of place, and its vernacular affinities with folk songs in its maudlin rendition of home where “love and joy never die.”

Since then, it has been sung in schools, a very fertile ground for its popularization.  What increases the song’s affectivity is the sense of belongingness it evokes. The mention of the proper noun “Bukidnon” indicates a strong territorial identification.  In fact in my own hometown, Maramag, we also have a hymn called “Maramag Hymn,” the town’s name in the title becomes the song’s brand so to speak.

This connective value of home has been further boosted when a provincial resolution was passed in 2006, requiring the singing of the hymn not only in elementary schools but also in government offices all over the province of Bukidnon.  Naturally, this has provoked nostalgic memories of the land and spurred various musical and visual renditions, translations, and online conversation among alumni, especially those who work in other parts of the country and of the world.

On the other hand, the Binukid variant “Bukidnon Kanak Ha Banuwa” is believed to have emerged in the 1930s, some years after the English hymn was composed (Industan).  This is also contextually supported by the song which mentions the Del Monte pineapple plantation which was established only in 1926.

Nobody up to now could trace accurately the composer of “Bukidnon Kanak Ha Banuwa.”  One speculation I gleaned from an online discussion about the song’s provenance is that an American Baptist missionary must have asked a native to work on a song based on the English version (Industan).  The emergence of this Binukid variant is not surprising, but rather inevitable. Looking back at the region’s  history, many Bukidnon adapted to the mainstream culture of the Visayan settlers. Most of them spoke in Bisaya as they had intermarried with the Visayan settlers. The second generation, mostly highly educated, occupied very important government positions and had no qualms becoming Bisayans themselves.  Today, their children and grandchildren could no longer speak the Binukid.

To this generation, the Binukid hymn has a particularly sentimental value as it prompts rediscovery of their ethnic heritage and language.  To a group that has sadly become a minority, the hymn becomes a convenient and powerful trope for cultural reclamation.

While this is not overtly expressed in the lyrics, this is evident in their symbolic employment of the song.  The Binukid hymn is now used by schools especially those run by School Principals whose lineage is Lumadnon. Every time I come home, it is the Binukid version I hear sung every morning in the school which is just a stone throw from our house.  The Binukid text is also used in musical, visual or literary productions that have become multimodal.  For instance, choral renditions in Binukid (which have eclipsed those in English) are videotaped then uploaded online via youtube.  Karaoke versions enhanced by photos of stunning landscapes have also flourished online.

Furthermore, Bukidnon writers such as Telesforo Sungkit, write literary works that deal with the history of the Lumad and their rightful place in the region.  At Xavier University where I teach, the Arts and Culture Office features artworks by Bukidnon artists who symbolically use soil instead of commercial paints in their visual interpretation of homeground.

How does the Bisayan version enter into this picture of diversity then?

Obviously, the Bisayan hymn is the missing piece. I interpret its long absence as a reflection of the Bisayan’s ascendancy and complacency. The Bisayan segment comprises the biggest population  in the region. The absence of a Bisayan version then seems to indicate that it has no (obvious) stake.

This translation project then wishes to articulate the stake. More than assertion, my translation is an inclusion of the Bisayan people into the picture of Bukidnon’s diversity and connectedness.  Historical circumstances have brought the Bisayan to the land of Bukidnon.  However contentious the entry of these settlers into the region is, the land today is as ours as it is the lumad’s, as it is everyone else’s.

My translation reflects this inclusiveness in two levels.  First, it includes the lyrical strains of both English and Binukid hymns.  For instance, in reference to the English song, the first stanza describes home as an idyllic place to where the wandering persona owes his allegiance. And in relation to the Binukid variant, it presents two stanzas of the chorus of the same melody, the second of which enumerates the landscapes and economic features of Bukidnon.

Second, and more important, it highlights the ethnic diversity of the place.  This is a feature that is not present in either English and Binukid.  And here, I took the liberty to translate the hymn in a direction that could truly represent the Bisayan segment of the population.  This direction is already hinted at in the title “Atong Bukidnon”  (Our Bukidnon) and in the opening stanza which has the line “yuta natong tanan” (the land is ours).  The chorus then picks it up as it highlights ethnic diversity, an element crucial in placing the Bisayans in the context of home claim.

Binukid:
Lain-laing mga tribo
sa Bukidnon nagkatipon
naninguhang magapuyong
malinawon, malamboon.

(Various tribes
come together in Bukidnon
striving to live
in harmony and prosperity.)

As the song points to Bukidnon’s ethnic diversity, it also mentions unity and thus evokes the region’s maxim: “unity in diversity.”

Below: One of the floats in Kaamulan 2014. Kaamulan is a festival held every year in Malaybalay, Bukidnon as a symbolic gathering of all tribes.

kaamulanIn bringing out unity, language plays an important role. Anywhere you go, it is Cebuano-Bisayan that is spoken by the majority (including those of native blood), with 65.9 percent of the population identifying it as their mother tongue (Edgerton). Even in a highly linguistically-diverse town, one could use Bisaya as a lingua franca. The language, being the region’s lingua franca, is thus a symbol of the region’s cohesiveness.

 
Lyrics and Melody:  Constraints and Creativity

Lyrics and melody are two essential elements that make up a song.  While I want to unite  the contents of the two hymns,  I also want my translations to be sung.

In many song translation studies, the issue concerning lyrics is often intertwined with “singability”  (Zhang 2015; Marc 2015).  However, singability is an indistinct term.  One scholar, Johan Franzon,  defines it formally as “a musico-verbal” unity of text and music. Franzon further describes unity as consisting of prosodic, poetic and semantic elements that are optional and modifiable (373-399).   Put simply, this unity involves a harmonious blend of metrical or rhythmic structure and content.  In translation, it has no foolproof formula, as it is a highly flexible process.

In this project, a major consideration in achieving this harmonious blend is syllabication. It is syllabication, not the poetic foot or rhythmic pattern, that plays a significant value in Philippine music according to Michael Coroza (125).  He explains that this emphasis on syllabication allows the singer to manipulate the beat, placing stresses wherever they are needed (125).

“Bukidnon My Home” is generally rendered in iamb which is the typical poetic foot in the English language.  When translated, the song has to be “constrained” in a target language which is polysyllabic in nature.  Unlike English, Bisaya has longer syllables:

lovely (2 syllables) –  matahom (3 syllables)
joy (1 syllable) –  kalipay (3 syllables).

The use of plural form and adjective in Bisaya particularly poses a problem.

In English, the pluralization of a noun merely requires an additional s, thus maintaining the same syllables.  Ex:  mountain – mountains.   In Bisaya (or even in Tagalog), the morphemic formation changes significantly, thus increasing the syllables.  The “bukid” becomes “kabukiran” or “mga bukid.”

In English, an adjective may be placed simply before a noun (lovely mountains), or in some cases such as in poetry, after the noun (her forest old and grand). This linguistic option, very helpful in managing syllabication, is absent in the Bisayan language.  The use of modifier requires a reflexive  pronoun “nga or “mga”  which compels me to be precise and creative in my choice of words so I can regulate the number of  syllables.

English
Her lovely mountains high with forest old and grand (12 syllables)
Beat: 1-2/1-2/1-2/1-2/1-2/1-2
Bisayan
bukid nga mahabog; lasang nga malabong (12 syllables)
Beat: 2-1/1-2/1-2/1-2/1-2/1-2

In my translation, I opted to use the simple word “bukid” (“Bukid nga mahabog) as it can also be interpreted in the general sense of mountains.  I dropped “lovely” in favor of a sharper word “mahabog” (high).  In a similar manner, I use the word “lasang” instead of kalasangan, as the former could be taken as plural.  This conciseness allows me to maintain the number of syllables which is very important in establishing the melody.[indent][indent]What has occurred in my translation is a slight shift in the foot to maintain the correct accent of “bukid.”  Instead of bukid, the accent now lies in the first syllable bukid.

In terms of imagery, the line “with forest old and grand/ Bring memories to me the home I long to see” proved to be a bit challenging. The forest described as old and grand is acceptable in English but not quite in Bisaya.  Some literal words I explored for old are “karaan” and  “hamtong”;  “grande” and “bantugan”  for grand.  But they just do not work well in the song’s context.    The natural imagery for forest in Bisaya is green and thick.   Hence, I settled for a sharper adjective “malabong” (flourishing/thick), similar to the Binukid “makupal” (thick).

In regulating the beat and melody, therefore, I had to make important decisions regarding diction and contraction of words in such a way that does not mar the overall mood of the song.  For instance, “lain-lain nga” is contracted to “lain-laing.”  As another example, in the last line of the chorus “Alang sa atong kalamboan” (For our progress),  I had to cut “atong” into “‘tong” to maintain the syllable count. When sung, the two words “sa ‘tong” are run together, making them equivalent to the beat for “and joy”  in the line “where love and joy never die.”  This is an example of what Coroza calls “pagnanakaw ng kumpas,” which he says is an integral part of Philippine musical tradition (125).

The musical elements, therefore, while constraining, paradoxically ups the translator’s creative antenna, prompting precision and careful word choice.

In sum, the translations here have led me to affirm the theoretical notion of translation as rewriting or a purposive, creative act.  The creativity of translation is a theme that goes hand in hand with the cultural move in translation studies.  Jeremy Munday says that the interaction between translation and creative writing has been recently explored, “linking with the mechanics of reading, cognitive processing and the experimental reformulation of the source” (227) [underscoring mine]. 

My metaphor for this purposive creativity is branching. Branching suggests life, it suggests possibilities.  The branch as image is interesting to me on two levels.  On one level, it acknowledges the source text from which the translation grows as an offshoot. Further, this image does not necessarily disparage translation as a derivative since it could be as “strong” as the source.  In this case, the Binukid hymn could be viewed as strong (if not stronger) as the English.  On another level, the word which implies organic growth, easily recalls the notion of “hubad” which is the Bisayan term for translation.  Hubad means a disentangling of a lump or a knot of intertwining branches or vines.  Hubad acknowledges variety and meshing.  In the light of the cultural turn, the variety of hymns and the variety of translations here should be taken as a healthy indication of heterogeneity.

Along the way, I encountered snags or tight lumps that I wished had not been there in the first place. Twice or thrice I thought of dropping the project altogether, and find some text more “serious” and therefore more relevant.  But I realized, paghubad is also liberating as I was able to clarify for myself the deep compulsion to explain these songs for others.  Translation as an act of untangling is prompted by a need to interpret a presumed underlying structure or design.  In this case, it is the unraveling of the deep connection between place and people coming from various origins.  I’m glad I plodded through the difficulties, persevering through uncomfortable snarls because they surprisingly led me to “self” and “home”  two entangled strands always close to my heart.

My Cebuano-Bisayan Version

Atong Bukidnon

Bisan asa ako
maghandum mobalik
dinhi sa Bukidnon
yuta natong tanan.
Bukid nga mahabug
lasang nga malabong
patag nga maluag
dapit nga matahom.

Korus 1

Lainlaing mga tribo
sa Bukidnon nagkatipon
naninguhang magapuyong
malinawon, malamboon.

Korus 2

Kabukiran, pastolan,
kapatagan, kabasakan,
kamaisan, kapinyahan
alang sa ‘tong kalamboan.

 

Translation of English Hymn

Source Text (English)
BUKIDNON MY HOME

Wherever I may roam the distant land to see
I long to go back soon to sweet Bukidnon home,
Her lovely mountains high with forest old and grand,
Bring memories to me the home I long to see.
(Chorus 2x):
There my heart yearns to be
In faraway Bukidnon land.
Under its blue starry skies
Where love and joy never die.The broad and green plateaus,
The rivers winding through,
My heart doth long no more
Of wonders of the world.
The balmy gentle winds
That kiss the traveler’s brow
Will blow and ever blow
Wherever I may go.
(Chorus)
The silver waterfalls
in the distance one can see.
In beauty they express
the stranger’s sincere praise.
The long and zigzag roads,
The canyons deep and wide
Will ever be enshrined
In all Bukidnon mind.
(Chorus)

Target Text (Cebuano-Bisaya)
AKONG BUKIDNON

Bisan asa ako muduaw sa layo
Maghandum mubalik sa yutang natawhan
Bukid nga matahom, lunhawng kalasangan
Sa yutang gihandum ako naghanduraw.
(Korus 2x):
Dughan ko gimingaw
Sa halayong kabukiran.
Didto sa bughawng langit
Kalipay wa’y kamatayon.

Mga kapatagan
Likolikong suba
Di’ na handumon pa
Layong mga lugar.
Mabugnaw nga hangin
Halok sa moduaw.
Muhuyop ang huyuhoy
Bisan asa ako.
(Korus)
Mga puting busay
Makita sa pangpang.
Ang ilang kaanyag
Day’gon sa nagduaw.
Sigsag sa Mangima,
Dal-og mga malalom,
Kini nahipatik sa
Atong handuman.
(Korus)

Lines in blue are not sung in official song.

Source Text

Target Text ❐

 

Translation of Binukid Hymn

Source Text (Binukid)
BUKIDNON KANAK HA BANUWA

Bisan pa hinduh ah
Lalag kog uli ah
Dini ta Bukidnon
Kanak ha banuwa.
Buntod matatangkaw
Kalasan makupal
Patag ha maluag
Ha Tungkay madagway.
(Korus 1):
Bunturan, balalayan
Basakan, kapatagan
Pastuhan, kapinyahan
Alan-alan kauyagan
(Korus 2):
Langit din piglambungan
Pig-aldawan, kalamagan
Singanam uranan
Ba alan-alan kauyagan

Target Text (Cebuano-Bisaya)
BUKIDNON KONG NATAWHAN

Bisan asa ako,
Maghandum mouli,
Dinhi sa Bukidnon
Yuta kong natawhan
Bukid nga mahabug
Lasang nga malabong
Patag nga maluag
Dapit nga matahom
(Korus 1):
Kabukiran, kabalayan
Kabasakan, kapatagan
Pastolan, kapinyahan
Tanan panginabuhian.
(Korus 2):
Ang Langit moalum-om
Masidlakan, mahanginan,
Usahay maulanan
Tanan panginabuhian.

 

 

From Binukid to English to Cebuano 

Binukid version
Bukidnon Kanak Ha Banuwa

Bisan pa hinduh ah
Lalag kog uli ah
Dini ta Bukidnon
Kanak ha banuwa.
Buntod matatangkaw
Kalasan makupal
Patag ha maluag
Ha Tungkay madagway.KUROS
Bunturan, balalayan
Basakan, kapatagan
Pastuhan, kapinyahan
Alan-alan kauyagan
Langit din piglambungan
Pig-aldawan, kalamagan
Singanam uranan
Ba alan-alan kauyagan

English Translation
Bukidnon My Motherland

Wherever I may roam
I long to go back
Here in Bukidnon
My home.
High mountains
Thick forest
Vast plains,
Very lovely.KORUS
Mountains, houses,
Rice fields, plains,
Pastureland, pineapple farm,
All means of living.
Its sky shaded,
Sunlit, windblown
Sometimes rain-soaked,
But all are means of living.

Cebuano-Bisaya Translation
Bukidnon Kong Natawhan

Bisan asa ako,
Maghandum mouli,
Dinhi sa Bukidnon
Yuta kong natawhan
Bukid nga mahabug
Lasang nga malabong
Patag nga maluag
Dapit nga matahomKORUS
Kabukiran, kabalayan
Kabasakan, kapatagan
Pastolan, kapinyahan
Tanan kabuhian.
Ang Langit moalum-om
Masidlakan, mahanginan,
Usahay maulanan
Tanan panginabuhian.

 

 

Accented Syllables in Target Texts (highlighted)

Source Text (English)
BUKIDNON MY HOME

Wherever I may roam the distant land to see,
I long to go back soon to sweet Bukidnon home,
Her lovely mountains high with forest old and grand,
Bring memories to me the home I long to see.(Chorus 2x):
There my heart yearns to be
In faraway Bukidnon land.
Under its blue starry skies
Where love and joy never die.The broad and green plateaus,
The rivers winding through,
My heart doth long no more
Of wonders of the world.
The balmy gentle winds
That kiss the traveler’s brow
Will blow and ever blow
Wherever I may go.
(Chorus)
The silver waterfalls
in the distance one can see.
In beauty they express
the stranger’s sincere praise.
The long and zigzag roads,
The canyons deep and wide
Will ever be enshrined
In all Bukidnon mind.
(Chorus)

Target Text (Cebuano-Bisaya)
AKONG BUKIDNON

Bisan asa ako muduaw sa layo
maghandum mubalik sa yutang natawhan
bukid nga matahom; lunhawng kalasangansa yutang gihandum ako naghanduraw.(Korus 2x):

Dughan ko gimingaw
sa halayong kabukiran.
Didto sa bughawng langit
Ang kalipay ‘di mamatay.

Mga kapatagan
Likolikong suba
Di’ na handumon pa
layong mga lugar.
Mabugnaw nga hangin
halok sa nagduaw.
Muhuyop ang huyuhoy
Bisan asa ako.
(Korus)
Mga puting busay
Makita sa pangpang.
Ang ilang kaanyag
Day’gon sa nagduaw.
Sigsag sa Mangima,
Dal-og nga malalom,
Kini nahipatik sa
Atong handuman.
(Korus)

Source Text (Binukid)
BUKIDNON KANAK HA BANUWA

Bisan pa hinduh ah
Lalag kog uli ah
Dini ta Bukidnon
Kanak ha banuwa.
Buntod matatangkaw
Kalasan makupal
Patag ha maluag
Ha Tungkay madagway.(Korus 1):
Bunturan, balalayan
Basakan, kapatagan
Pastuhan, kapinyahan
Alan-alan kauyagan
(Korus 2):
Langit din piglambungan
Pig-aldawan, kalamagan
Singanam uranan
Ba alan-alan kauyagan

Target Text (Cebuano-Bisaya)
BUKIDNON NATAWHAN KONG YUTA

Bisan asa ako,
Maghandum mouli,
Dinhi sa Bukidnon
Yuta kong natawhan
Bukid nga mahabug
Lasang nga malabong
Patag nga maluag
Dapit nga matahom(Korus 1):
Kabukiran, kabalayan
kabasakan, kapatagan
Pastolan, kapinyahan
Tanan panginabuhian.
(Korus 2):
Ang Langit mulandong
masidlakan, mahanginan,
Usahay maulanan
Tanan panginabuhian.

 

 

Primary Sources

“Bukidnon My Home:  Official English Version of the Bukidnon Hymn.” http://www.bukidnononline.com/bukidnon-my-home-official-english-version-of-the-bukidnon-hymn/

“Bukidnon My Home:  Official Binukid Version of the Bukidnon Hymn.” http://www.bukidnononline.com/bukidnon-my-home-official-binukid-version-lyrics/

Works Cited

“Bukidnon My Home:  Official English Version of the Bukidnon Hymn.” http://www.bukidnononline.com/bukidnon-my-home-official-english-version-of-the-bukidnon-hymn/

Bassnett, Susan.  Translation. New York, NY:  Routledge, 2014.  Print  

Bassnett, Susan and Andre Lefevere, eds.  Translation, History, and Culture.  London and NewYork: Pinter, 1990.   Print

Coroza, Michael M.  “Ang Sining ng Saling-Awit:  Kasaysayan, Proseso, at Pagpapahalaga.” Pp. 121-138.  Class handouts.

Echaves, Chona and Erlinda Montillo-Burton.  “Moving Out of Poverty in Bukidnon, Philippines.”  http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMOVOUTPOV/Resources/2104215-1187710751691/Philippines-Bukidnon_synthesis. PDF

Edgerton, Ronald. “Bukidnon.”  Internet Encyclopedia of World Cultures.  1996.  Web.   06 May 2016 http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Bukidnon.aspx

Franzon, Johan.  “Choices in Song Translation:  Singability in Print, Subtitles and Sung Performance” in  The Translator.  Vol 14, Issue 2, 2008.  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13556509.2008.10799263

Industan, Edmund.  “Bukidnon, My Home:  Final Lyric From My End.”  http://edmund-industan.blogspot.com/2009/04/bukidnon-my-home-final-lyric-from-my.html

Marc, Isabelle.  “Travelling Songs:  On Popular Music Transfer and Translation” in IASM@Journal.  Vol 5, No 2, 2015, pp 3-17.  PDF

Munday, Jeremy.  Introducing Translation Studies:  Theories and Applications. 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN:  Routledge, 2012.

Sario, Lumin. Personal Interview.  02 Apr 2016.

Zhang, L. Y.  “Feasibility of Applying Functional Equivalence Theory to Chinese Translation of English Songs” in Studies in Literature and Language.  Vol. 10, No. 1, 2015, pp. 75-80. www.cscanada.net. PDF

literary study, Carayan Vol 2. No.1 Oct 2016

© 2016 English Department, Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan
ISSN 2467-5679
All poems, stories and other contributions copyright to their respective authors