<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"></div><div dir="ltr">Dear David,</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Unfortunately, I know very little about the stuff you are studying, but I can tell you that the Italian songwriter Angelo Branduardi wrote a re-interpretation (in Italian) of the Jewish hymn you mentioned; it’s pretty popular in Italy, entitled “Alla fiera dell’est” (lit. “At the eastern fair”). I don’t know how weird Italian may be considered, but it could make a nice parallel to the Aramaic hymn.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I’m sorry I could not be very helpful, but still…</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Best wishes,</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Edoardo Nardi</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">Il giorno 12 feb 2023, alle ore 08:14, David Gil <gil@shh.mpg.de> ha scritto:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<p>Dear all,</p>
<p>A cumulative song is one in which each unit, or stanza,
introduces an additional layer of syntactic embedding, such as the
following ...</p>
<dl>
<dd>This is the house that Jack built.</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dd>This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dd>This is the rat that ate the malt</dd>
<dd>That lay in the house that Jack built.</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dd>This is the cat</dd>
<dd>That killed the rat that ate the malt</dd>
<dd>That lay in the house that Jack built.</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dd>This is the dog that worried the cat</dd>
<dd>That killed the rat that ate the malt</dd>
<dd>That lay in the house that Jack built.</dd>
</dl>
<p></p>
<p>... and so forth. Perhaps the earliest example of a cumulative
song is the Jewish Aramaic hymn <i>Had Gadya</i>.</p>
<p>My query: Is anybody familiar with examples of cumulative songs
from other non-WEIRD cultures and languages. While my main
interest is in "indigenous" attestations, I would also be
interested in successful adaptations and translations of western
cumulative songs into other languages.</p>
<p>(Background to the query: I am interested in exploring variation
in the propensity of different languages to make use of syntactic
embedding. My focus is on languages such as Malay/Indonesian,
which have various tools to construct embedded clauses but
generally choose not to make use of them in natural discourse. I
would like to test the hypothesis that such cumulative songs are
absent or otherwise less successful in such languages.)</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>David<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
David Gil
Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
Email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>
Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-082113720302
</pre>
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