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Χρόνια πολλά
by Guest User - Sunday, 23 November 2008, 06:50 AM
 

Hello again,

this is a popular 'Happy Birthday' Wishing among greek-speaking people.

Use and enjoy!                                                          Maryana

                            

                                        Χρόνια πολλά

Να ζήσεις, Θανάση,                    (Long) may you live, Thanasis, (other name)

Και χρόνια πολλά!                                       And many years!

Μεγάλος να γίνεις                                        May you grow adult (old)

Με άσπρα μαλλιά.                                        With white hair.

Παρτού να σκορπείζεις                                 May you spread everywhere

Της γνώσης το φως,                                    The light of knowledge,

Και όλοι να λένε                                           And my everybody call you

Να ένας σοφός.                                            A wise man.

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Picture of Mike West
Re: Χρόνια πολλά
by Mike West - Friday, 12 November 2010, 10:14 AM
 

Does the gender of some of the words change if you are singing it to a female.  I was thinking the following would change:

Μεγάλος να γίνεις --> Μεγάλη να γίνεις

Να ένας σοφός --> Να μία σοφό (or is it σοφή ?)

Thanks for any advice.

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Picture of Greg Brush
Re: Χρόνια πολλά
by Greg Brush - Friday, 12 November 2010, 01:29 PM
  Right, the grammatical agreements are feminine if speaking/singing to a female:
μεγάλη να γίνεις
-and-
να μία σοφή

***

By the way, there's a typo in one of Maryana's lines:
Και όλοι να λένε = And may everybody call you

Regards,
Greg Brush
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Re: Χρόνια πολλά
by Guest User - Sunday, 14 November 2010, 10:51 AM
  Γεια σου Greg! I was used to sing "να μία σοφή" to say the song to a female, but my teacher once told me that "σοφός" does not change (that is to say, "μία σοφός"). Πώς κι έτσι;;;
Ευχαριστώ smile
Maria

PS I think there is another typo in the song. Should it be "Παντού" instead of "παρτού"?
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Re: Χρόνια πολλά
by Greg Brush - Sunday, 14 November 2010, 10:36 PM
  Right, in the Greek Happy Birthday song, σοφός is used as a "noun of common gender" (i.e., for both males and females) in order to maintain the ending rhyme of the last two lines.

And yes, there are a couple spelling mistakes/typos -- Παρτού should be Παντού, and σκορπείζεις should be σκορπίζεις.

So:
Να ζήσεις [όνομα] και χρόνια πολλά!
Μεγάλος/μεγάλη να γίνεις με άσπρα μαλλιά.
Παντού να σκορπίζεις της γνώσης το φως,
Και όλοι να λένε να ένας/μία σοφός.

Regards,
Greg Brush
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Re: Χρόνια πολλά
by Guest User - Monday, 15 November 2010, 01:43 PM
  Many thanks Greg! Actually, it sounds way much better keeping σοφός for both males and females
Θα το`χω υπ`όψη μου! smile
Να`σαι καλά
Maria
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Picture of Nigel Blanchard
Re: Χρόνια πολλά
by Nigel Blanchard - Sunday, 14 February 2016, 05:58 AM
  In this post above from Maria what does her signature postscript mean as I don't have a clue on first line but second may be something " be good"
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Re: Χρόνια πολλά
by Greg Brush - Sunday, 14 February 2016, 12:43 PM
  a) Θα το`χω [έχω] υπ` όψη μου! = I'll keep it in mind.
This line is a combination of colloquial speech (θα το 'χω) plus a slightly formal spelling (υπ' όψη, which is much more frequently seen now as one word, υπόψη).

b) Να`σαι [είσαι] καλά. = Be well.

Regards,
Greg Brush
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