This is a skipping rhyme told by a male second grader. As he was singing it some of her peers joined in the song. “Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground. Teddy bear, teddy bear, tie your shoes. Teddy bear, teddy bear, get out of school.” The skipping rhyme… Continue Reading »
Armenian: Ուրբաթ, Շաբաթ, Կիրակի, արջը գնաց մարզանկի, ուսթա Սակոն կրակեց, արջի փորա դրակեց. Phonetic Translation: Urbat’, Shabat’, Kiraki, arjy gnats’ marzanki, ust’a Sakon krakets’, arji p’vora drakets’. English Translation: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. A bear went to the gym. A hunter saw the bear. The hunter shot the bear, and the bear’s stomach exploded. Context: The informant, who… Continue Reading »
Context: The informant is an 11-year-old resident of Southern California, of Indo-Pakistani descent. She lives with two older siblings, parents, and grandparents and attends a public middle school in the South Bay area. She has close friends of many different religious and ethnic backgrounds, and the following narrative sequence is one she learned from one… Continue Reading »
Context: The informant is a grandmother of 8 whose parents were originally from Afghanistan but settled in Pakistan. She also lived in Saudi Arabia for many years and has a working knowledge of Farsi, Arabic, and Punjabi along with her native Urdu. The following nursery rhyme is one in Farsi that she and her siblings learned… Continue Reading »
“Prišel je tsiganček sajast kako vranček; Igral je na piščalko Milo in pelo Kakor malo kdo.” — Translation: “There came a little gypsy boy Black with soot/dirtlike a crow; [Dark as a crow] He played on the piccolo gently and beautifully like very few could.” — This is a traditional Slovenian nursery rhyme, one that… Continue Reading »