# Persian (?): bol-bol-bol-chi-cheeri



## Amni

Moderator note: This thread is moved here from the English Only forum, for just in case these words have a meaning in Persian.


Hi everyone,

I have found "bol-bol-bol-chi-cheeri" when I was translating a fragment of a novel in English. Could you help me with this? I don't know what it means... The fragment of a novel was a about a girl who is sick and stays at home lonely and a friend promise her a great present.

Thank you very much.


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## Cagey

Hello Amni.   

Please give us the complete sentence, and the sentence before this. Also something about the people in the story, where they live and so on.  We need more information to answer the question.  

You should also tell us the name of the novel and who wrote it.   
(See: Name the source .)


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## Amni

*This is the fragment where it appears:

*When he was leaving, Darius said,“Next time when I come, I will bring you a friend so you won’t be lonely.”
Maryam didn’t know what he meant.What kind of friend could stay with her all day?
A few weeks passed. Maryam did nothear from Darius. 
Then, early one morning, Maryamawoke to hear someone whispering a song in her ear.  Whoever it was sang a beautiful melody.  The commotion was very pleasant.
“Bol-bol-bol-chi-cheeri Bol-bol-bol-chi-cheeri” thestranger sang.


*Thank you very much in advance.*


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## LilianaB

What is the title of the book? Does the action take place in an English speaking country? Is the person singing in English?


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## Amni

The book is written in English but the action takes place in Iran...
I don't have the title, only a little fragment...


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## entangledbank

Well, they obviously aren't English words. As it's set in Iran, I'd guess it's meant to represent the song of the bulbul, an Eastern bird famed similarly to a European nightingale.


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## LilianaB

It could be Persian. I would check that first.


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## PaulQ

“Bol-bol-bol-chi-cheeri " are meaningless sounds, imitative of the notes and rhythm of a song.

e.g.
A: "I have a song stuck in my mind and I can't think of its title."
B: "What are the words of the song?"
A: "I don't know them either but the song goes, "Bol-bol-bol-chi-cheeri, diddly -dee, diddly-dee" then "Da da dee da-da."

The alternative is that “Bol-bol-bol-chi-cheeri " is actually part of the song but is a set of nonsense words just to keep the tune and rhyme. There is the English childrens song, 
"*Hey, diddle diddle* the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such fun
and the dish ran away with the spoon."

*Hey, diddle diddle*has no meaning.

English songs, and also from what little I know of songs in other languages, often have nonsense words in them, either in the chorus or just as part of one verse.


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## Amni

I have found this:

Bülbül        	         	(95 words)        
                   Bülbül  (p. and t.), the nightingale. In Persian and Turkish poetry, the nightingale plays a great part usually in conjunction with the rose. Oriental fancy has conceived that the nightingale is consumed with love for the rose and therefore sings in numberless ways (whence its epithet, Hazār dāstān) of its love but her love is unrequited. It is mystically conceived as the image of the human soul which is consumed with love for God. Cf. Ethé in the Grundriss der Iranischen Philologie, ii. 250,


(source: http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/bulbul-SIM_1521?s.num=7)

But I don't know still how I could translate that sentence...


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## PaulQ

You do not need to translate it - the words are meaningless; they are imitative.


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## Amni

This is what I did, not to translate them, but they have asked me to translate those words and I got lost...


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## LilianaB

If you are translating the part into English, you just leave the line the way it is. _Suri_ is rose in Persion. I don't know if it will make some sense, you would really have to post it in the Persian forum. _Bulbul suri_?


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## PaulQ

Amni said:


> This is what I did, not to translate them, but they have asked me to translate those words and I got lost...


OK.

“Bol-bol-bol-chi-cheeri Bol-bol-bol-chi-cheeri” the stranger sang. = "Da-da-da-dee-dee-da-dee, Da-da-da-dee-dee-da-dee" the stranger sang.

My only caution would be if those exact words later played a part in the story.


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## Amni

Thank you very much for your help!


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## Qureshpor

Amni said:


> Thank you very much for your help!



I would suggest that this is a proper Persian sentence and not a meaningless one. The "problem" is with the last word which should be a verb.

bulbul chih (che) x?

What is the Nightingale x ?(singing/doing etc)

Please double check the last word.


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## Amni

I have checked the sentence again, but it is writing in that way. In that case, I think the nightingale is singing. Would it the sentence:

sing sing sing the nightingale, sing, sing, sing the birdie?

thank you in advance


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## Qureshpor

LilianaB said:


> If you are translating the part into English, you just leave the line the way it is. _Suri_ is rose in Persion. I don't know if it will make some sense, you would really have to post it in the Persian forum. _Bulbul suri_?



I did n't know "suri" was "rose" in Persian. I thought it was "gul-i-gulaab" or just "gul" for short.


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## Qureshpor

Amni, I think your mystery may have been solved.

"char" means a song/melody*چر. [ چ َ ] (اِ) نغمه و غنا باشد، چه چرگر سازنده و مغنی را خوانند. (برهان ) (آنندراج ). نغمه و غنا و آواز. (ناظم الاطباء). ساز و آواز. .*

bulbul, bulbul che char-ii

Nighingale, O Nightingale! What song and music you are!


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