Four songs for the occasion

[bellatrys]

Samhain/All Souls/Dia de los Muertos - for all who have suffered a loss, but dedicated especially to ginmar-

I.The chariots go forth to war

Comments

[aberranteyes]

and yes, I know about the symbolism of four, even tho' I don't know any of the Chinese words for it

The one I'm familiar with is traditionally* romanized ssu (dunno what tone).

* I think it's Wade-Giles, but I wouldn't swear to that.

[evilstorm]

It is Wade-Giles, which is a mess. Pinyin gives it as "si", fourth tone. "Death" would be third tone.

Also I only recognize the first one, oh dear. And am duly amused by the differences caused by translation. It's to be expected, but funny nevertheless.

[aberranteyes]

So it's the difference between si4 or si3 (or, as I prefer to write such things, si4 or si3). Interesting. (Japanese tends to flatten out the tones, which is how I learned it and may be how our host learned it as well.)

[evilstorm]

Yeah, I think most Chinese puns rely on tonal differences, because if the word had the same tone as well as pronunciation you....there wouldn't be a pun. Heh. There's less of the punning that relies on pronunciation, somehow. Even in poems the tones form part of the structure--this can get very annoying (well, to a native English speaker anyway) when you're trying to write your own, because every single damn word has to conform to an extra set of rules.

[ginmar]

November 2nd is the day my mum died, before I went to war. She has more in common with this poem than she does with the people who live now.