# Medieval French: pronunciation: Pase el agoa



## ~Lilla~

Hi all, 

I'm hoping there's a Galician expert out there! My choir is singing a Galician folksong called 'Pase el agoa' at the moment, but we are unsure of the correct pronunciation of the lyrics. If anyone can help me out in any way that would be great. I've looked up performances of the song online & there are so many versions with so many different ways of pronouncing the lyrics! 

Lyrics: 
* Pase el agoa, ma Julieta, Dama, pase el agoa. Venite vous a moy. Ju men anay en un vergel, ju men anay en un vergel. Tres rosetas fui coller; Ma Julioleta, Dama, pase el agoa, venite vous a moy. *

Particular questions: 
1. How are the 'j's pronounced? 
2. 'moy' - I've heard three pronunciations of this in recordings of the song: 
i) a French-sounding 'moi' 
ii) the way it would be read in English, 'moy', rhyming with 'boy' 
iii) something that sounds like a cross between 'mweh' & 'mway' 

Thanks in advance! 
Lilla


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## Agró

I don't know for sure what language that is, but I'm almost certain it's not Galician. Sorry, wait for other posts.


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## maidinbedlam

I agree with Agró. The only Galician word I recognize is "coller". The rest sounds to me more like French. 
I recommend you listen to other versions of the song to have an idea of the pronunciation.


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## ~Lilla~

Thanks very much for your replies. This is the only other information that's written on the music: 

"The text of this Galician folksong (a vilancico) is roughly translated, 'Come to me across the water, my Lady Juliet. I will go into the forest, there to pluck three roses.' 

Late-15th / early-16th century 
(Cancionero Musical de Palacio, Madrid)" 

Maybe that will give some more clues...


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## elirlandes

It appears that this song is written in an early or medieval "adulterated" version of French.

If you go to page 24 (i.e. p26 out of 35) in this booklet you will see mention of it. The booklet is written in Valencian and it says:



> *I encara una altra en llengua francesa molt adulterada, inclosa en l’indicat cançoner musical:*
> 
> Pasé el agoa, ma julieta
> dama, pasé l’agoa.



Perhaps a Valencian / Catalan speaker could confirm the phrase in bold means something like "and yet another one in highly adulterated French, along with musical indications".


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## Agró

elirlandes said:


> Perhaps a Valencian / Catalan speaker could confirm the phrase in bold means something like "and yet another one in highly adulterated French, along with musical indications" (more or less).


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## CapnPrep

I wouldn't say that this text is primarily French, even "adulterated" French. The only characteristically French elements are the pronouns _moy_ and _vous._ The rest is a mix of medieval Spanish, Portuguese/Galician, Occitan/Provençal/Catalan, … and a bit of Latin. So I don't think there can be a truly "correct" pronunciation, but some choices are can be considered more appropriate than others for the period in question (15th-16th century):


The ‹j› can be pronounced either [ʒ] (as in French) or [dʒ] (as in Italian _Giorgio_), but not as in modern Spanish [x].
_Vous _should be pronounced [vuz] as in modern French, with [z] linking to the following _a_.
_Moy_ can be either [moi] (like _boy_) or [moe]/[mwe] (like _Moe-eh_), but not [mwa] as in modern French.
I would pronounce _rosetas_ with a [z], and possibly with a : [ruˈzetas].
[*]_Coller_: either [koˈʎer] or [kuˈʎer].


On the other hand, there is also something to be said for using modern pronunciations for _moy_, _Julieta_, etc., to make the text more accessible to the audience.


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## ~Lilla~

Thank you so much to everyone for all of your input! It is greatly appreciated! I will certainly take your advice CapnPrep.


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## ajparis

I know the song, and it has definitely been recorded, probably many times. I think it's on an old record by Gregorio Paniagua in Spain. You could go to iTunes and even YouTube


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## J.F. de TROYES

This site confirms that various Romance languages are mixed in this song : http://www.answers.com/topic/pase-el-agoa


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## cailleach

That's very interesting.  Is this kind of hodge-podge seen elsewhere in mediaeval music/ literature?  I've never encountered anything before that combined this many Romance languages.


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