Fun With Google Translate: Ancient Japanese Nursery Rhymes
Surprisingly Similar to Mother Goose Rhymes: Humpty Dumpty, Hickory Dickory, Jack Be Nimble, and Ba Ba Black Sheep
To Listen to These Ancient Japanese Nursery Rhymes
- Go to Google Translate on a computer (doesn’t seem to work on a phone)
- Put Japanese as the first language (doesn’t matter what is in the second language is).
- Cut and paste the below rhymes into the Japanese side for translation.
- Click on the listen button at the bottom of the translation box.
These poems are so ancient that it is difficult to translate but here are a few words: satto means (suddenly); hada or 肌 (skin); raku (easy); kuroku (black); kubi (neck) in jakkubi; iku (go). In the final poem, “suru” means to do and suri means pickpocket. The consonants may have shifted in Hikkorī from Hitori which means one person. There could be a vowel shift in the first poem with “menku” shifted from “monku” which means to complain. “Mausu” are likely a loan word from English, “mouse” when English sailing ships landed in Japan and China. “Ampu” in “hamputi” or “danputi” is likely a loan word from French “un peu” or a little.
Hanputi danputi
bayu Kimmberi Banhamu
Hanputi danpu ti satto ona woru
Hanputi danpu ti hada gureto foru
ooruza kingusu hoosu
ando ooruza kingusu menkudun
puto Hanputi tugesa agen
Hikkorī, Dikkorī, Dokku
Hikkorī, dikkorī, dokku,
da mausu ran apuu da kuroku
da kuroku suta raku uanu
da mausu ranu daun
hikkorī, dikkorī, dokku
Jakku Bi Nim Buru
Jakkubi ni m buru
Jakkubi ku iku
jakku janpu obaru
da kan duru tsu iku
Baa Baa Burakku Shiipu
Baa Baa Burakku Shiipu
Burakku Shiipu
Habe yu eni wuru
iesu suru iesu suru suri bagu furu
wanu foo da masutaa
wanu fooru demu
andu wanu fooru rito boi
hu ribusu daunu da reinu
