How can I keep from singing?

[suzer1013]

Hi y'all. Well -- I finally did it! I joined my local GLBT chorus and I am having so much fun. It's great to be able to sing with a larger group again. I love my church choir, but it's tiny, and just can't handle the complexity of music that I want to sing. OurSong is a really, really wonderful group of folks and I can hardly wait until our first concert!

I am seeking advice on pronounciation on one piece, and am wondering if any of you (Zerbie or Daniel, maybe???) have sung "Betelehemu", which is in Yoruba, a language in Nigeria. (I think it's quite apropos that we are singing a Nigerian Christmas song, given the extreme anti-gay rhetoric we hear from that country's leaders.) Perhaps in some small way, our singing this beautiful song can help bridge the gap -- even if only by sending good vibes across the continents. :)

My question at the moment is regarding the "g" in words like "gbojule" and "lagbe". Is the "g" silent, or do you somehow quickly pronounce it before the "b"?

Thanks, y'all....

Susan :love:

[keltic63]

Betelehemu!!!! I love that song.

But I can't remember the pronunciation for you.....I am usually the accompanist for such things, I don't get to do the singing. and of course, since every version of that song I've ever done is a capella I didn't even get to play it.

[u-dog]

Hi y'all. Well -- I finally did it! I joined my local GLBT chorus and I am having so much fun. It's great to be able to sing with a larger group again. I love my church choir, but it's tiny, and just can't handle the complexity of music that I want to sing. OurSong is a really, really wonderful group of folks and I can hardly wait until our first concert!

I am seeking advice on pronounciation on one piece, and am wondering if any of you (Zerbie or Daniel, maybe???) have sung "Betelehemu", which is in Yoruba, a language in Nigeria. (I think it's quite apropos that we are singing a Nigerian Christmas song, given the extreme anti-gay rhetoric we hear from that country's leaders.) Perhaps in some small way, our singing this beautiful song can help bridge the gap -- even if only by sending good vibes across the continents. :)

My question at the moment is regarding the "g" in words like "gbojule" and "lagbe". Is the "g" silent, or do you somehow quickly pronounce it before the "b"?

Thanks, y'all....

Susan :love:


You know I THINK that all of the BANTU languages across Africa (north of the Congo at least) are cognates or part of the same language family. I bet the our new member from Kenya could be helpful to you. his name is sasha.ke.

OH OH OH!!! there is that new woman... the musician. She lives in LA now but she's from Nigeria ! her name is "rizitimane"

[Zerbie]

Sorry, I have NO experience singing in Yoruba.

Italian, Latin, American & British English, French, German, a teensy bit of Spanish, that's about it. For diction questions, I feel I function best with French and German.

Sounds like you may have answers from some of our other forumites though!!

[Daniel]

But seeing that everything seems to be a click away these days, you might try this online reference:

http://www.africa.uga.edu/Yoruba/pronunciation.html


My question at the moment is regarding the "g" in words like "gbojule" and "lagbe". Is the "g" silent, or do you somehow quickly pronounce it before the "b"?

Now. Based on the online pronunciation guide for the letters "GB"...

http://www.africa.uga.edu/Yoruba/sounds/ALPHABET_RHYME_IN_BITS/GB-GBAGBA.wav

...the two letters together seem to make a compound sound, as though one put the lips in the postion for "V" and went straightway to the "B". I hear something else as well, and that is the tongue being put in the position to articulate "G" from the start, which is best done with the middle of the tongue arched on the back of the hard palate (not in the back of the throat as we do in English). This may account for the "G" symbol.

Or course, a native speaker will be able to tell one more.

[suzer1013]

Thanks, everyone! And Daniel -- that's just what I needed. I forwarded it on to our director -- hopefully it will help with a couple of the trickier words. I'll keep seeking out some native speakers, too. Though I've been to Sierra Leone, the languages there are different than the ones in Nigeria, so I'm not sure any of my Sierra Leonean friends could be of assistance.

Thanks, y'all. Tra-la-la!!! :D

Susan