# Μπουμπαντελέ



## Aelialicinia

I cannot find this little baby anywhere--so I come in supplication to the experts

In context:

Ολοι μας λεν τή γλυκιά λέξη: Μπουμπαντελέ

We all proclaim that sweet word:  _____________

I think it  means something like freedom or leaving or embarking? 

It is probably Turkish???


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## tightrope

I never heard that word in greek before...  It could be turkish though...


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## Aelialicinia

It could be, but I couldn't find the meaning in Turkish either...and the Greeks who say it all understand it.


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## Vagabond

Hm. If Turkish people don't recognise it, and Greeks definitely don't (I googled it in Greek, and the only result I got was this page right here), I wonder if it isn't some distorted version of a (probably non-Greek) word... maybe vowels have shifted or consonants have been replaced or something... can I ask, the Greeks who you spoke to and knew the word, where were they from? Might be some very local idiom or something.


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## Aelialicinia

The Greeks who understand it are the characters in the Venezis'  work not people I know!  They were living/dying in Asia Minor in slave camps...this word/passage is from the Venezis memoirs.

I can only hope that someone will recognize this.  

Could it be fatherland?  Μπουμπα might be daddy in Turkish..but ντελέ?


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## Kevman

Γεια,

I'm afraid I can't offer much insight about the word itself, but I would translate the sentence differently.
Όλοι goes with λεν (3rd person pl.), and μας is an object pronoun:


Aelialicinia said:


> Ολοι μας λεν τή γλυκιά λέξη: Μπουμπαντελέ


_Everyone calls us the sweet word: ..._

i.e., everyone around seems to use this word to address or refer to the narrator and the people with him.  Since he thinks it's "sweet" perhaps it's some sort of pleasant diminutive or pet name.  I guess without knowing what language it comes from we can't really tell whether it's been given a Greek vocative ending or if that final έ sound comes from the original language (like French or something).


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## Aelialicinia

Ολοι μα̃ς λέν τή γλυκιά λέξη: Μπουμπαντελέ
 
So are you saying  that it should be -
 
"Everyone  calls out that that sweet word: Bubandele."
 
Instead of "We all call out that sweet word:  Bubandele"
 
??? Baffled and bamboozled


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## Kevman

I'm translating *μας λεν* as _they call us_.

You know, as in 'they call us heroes' or 'they call us Fred,' except that here they're calling us Bubadele.


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## Vagabond

Dunno about that one, Kev; όλοι μας λεν would normally be "everyone tells us/says to us", not "calls us"; I suppose it would work if it were "όλοι μας λεν μουμπανταλέ", but that "sweet word" addition wouldn't really work like that - you'd have to say "όλοι μας φωνάζουν/αποκαλούν/(λεν? perhaps, but eh...) *με* τη γλυκειά λέξη μπουμπαντελέ".

Then again, if it's Venezis, who knows if normal applies


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## ireney

Well it could be "everyone is saying to us that sweet word". The problem is what they are saying no matter the rest of the sentence though I guess   What's the overall context of the sentence? Any clues there?


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## Aelialicinia

Ireney--the context  would not change the essence of that sentence I have posted but I can give you a description of the  scene:  Greek slaves who have survived the genocide in Asia Minor in 1923 and have heard that the prisoner exchange agreement will allow them to return not to their homes which no longer exist, but to Greece and freedom. Suddenly -
Ολοι μας λεν τή γλυκιά λέξη: Μπουμπαντελέ


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## modus.irrealis

I did some searching in some Turkish dictionaries and found the word _mübadele, _which seems to mean "exchange", but also seems to be the word used in referring to the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, for example on the Turkish wikipedia. The Turkish word does fit the Greek word phonetically (I can see mü sounding like μπου), and the meaning seems to fit nicely too.


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## Aelialicinia

*Yes you are right!  Μπουμπαντελέ means Population Exchange!!!!*

*My God I think he's got it!*

*Thanks to all.*


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## Aelialicinia

*modus.irrealis*
*your research and solution were absolutely spot on!  *
*My personal thanks to you.*
*Aelialicinia*


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## Kevman

Indeed. Nice work, modus! 



Vagabond said:


> Dunno about that one, Kev; όλοι μας λεν would normally be "everyone tells us/says to us", not "calls us"; I suppose it would work if it were "όλοι μας λεν μουμπανταλέ", but that "sweet word" addition wouldn't really work like that - you'd have to say "όλοι μας φωνάζουν/αποκαλούν/(λεν? perhaps, but eh...) *με* τη γλυκειά λέξη μπουμπαντελέ".


Ah, I see what you mean. With that extra little noun phrase in there you _do_ kind of want a *με* to make αποκαλώ work, for some reason.
Sorry if I've caused any unnecessary confusion. 

(Is there such thing as _necessary_ confusion...?)

Still, it is 'they' doing the 'saying' *to* us, so at least I got that part right!


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