Manha De Carnaval (A Brazilian Song)

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Manha De Carnaval (A Brazilian Song)

By Thomas Keyes
Apr. 14, 2006

“Manha de Carnaval” (Morning of Carnival) is a gorgeous song, whose melody is probably familiar to everybody, but I wonder how many people know the original words, which are in Brazilian Portuguese. The music for this song was composed by Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001) and the lyrics were written by Antônio Maria Araújo de Morais (1921-1964). This song was played in the unforgettable film “Black Orpheus”, which premiered in 1959. “Manha de Carnaval” is supposed to mark the first appearance of ‘bossa nova’ (‘new mode’), a kind of dance and song that was born in Rio de Janeiro, where “Black Orpheus” took place.

Below is a URL for the music. Scroll down about 30 or 40 lines to where you see “Luis Bonfá—Antônio Maria” in white letters, and click on “Manha de Carnaval”, in green letters right below:

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9951/midifil2.html

Incidentally, the second ‘a’ in ‘manha’ should have a tilde (as in ‘ñ’), and if I were at a Brazilian keyboard, I could key it, but in Argentina, I can’t, and I’m afraid that, if I use a letter from Microsoft Word “Insert Symbol”, it’ll get garbled when I e-mail it. Each of the following words, which appear in the song, should also have a tilde over the ‘a’ in ‘ao’: entao, cançao, coraçao, nao, tao, maos, violao. ‘Amanha’, like ‘manha’, has a tilde on the last ‘a’. A tilde denotes nasalization, as in French words like ‘bon’ and ‘ton’, and always carries the accent in a word.

Anyone who is familiar with Spanish will actually be mildly shocked to learn how some words are pronounced in Portuguese. Final ‘e’ is like Spanish ‘i’; final ‘o’ is like Spanish ‘u’. ‘L’ at the end of a syllable or word is like ‘u’ or ‘w’; ‘r’ at the beginning of a word or at the end of a syllable or word is like Spanish ‘j’. ‘Nh’ is like ‘ñ’: ‘lh’ is like ‘ll’ in Castilian. ‘D’ before ‘i’ or ‘e’ when pronounced like ‘i` is like English ‘j’. Otherwise it is like in English ‘d’, not Spanish. ‘Ch’ is like ‘sh’. ‘Ç’ is like ‘s’. ‘G’ before ‘e’ and ‘i’, as well as ‘j’, are like French. Otherwise ‘g’ is like English. Final ‘m’ is not pronounced as a consonant, but nasalizes the preceding vowel. ‘H’ is silent. ‘X’ is unpredictable, but it doesn’t appear in this song anyway. Final ‘z’ varies between ‘s’ and ‘sh’.

So, `carnaval’, if spelled according to Spanish rules, would be ‘cajnaváu’, believe it or not! ‘Riso’ would be ‘jisu’. ‘Amor’ would be ‘amoj’, ‘falar’ would be ‘falaj’. ‘Sol’ would be ‘sou’, with ‘u’ being a very audible ‘w’. ‘De’ is like English ‘gee’, ‘dia’ is like ‘gee-ah’. ‘Um’ is a nasalized ‘u’. ‘Perdidos’ is pronounced ‘pejgídus’, where the ‘j’ is as in Spanish and the ‘g’ as in English ‘gee’. Some people might even say ‘pejgídush’.

I found quite a few variations, contradictions and errors in the lyrics on the various websites that list them. So I have attempted to reconcile them. At the very least, my version is grammatical, which I can’t say for some of the others. My own translation follows the lyrics. This is the only song I know in Portuguese, but with my recent stay in Brazil and another that I'm planning, I hope to learn more:

MANHA DE CARNAVAL (Brazilian Portuguese Lyrics)

Manha, tao bonita manha
De um dia feliz che chegou!
O sol no ceu surgiu
E em cada cor brilhou.
Voltou o sonho entao
Ao coraçao.

Depois deste dia feliz,
Nao sei se outro dia virá,
E nossa amanha,
Tao bela afinal amanha
De carnaval.

Canta o meu coraçao.
Alegria voltou. Tao feliz
A manha deste amor.

Manha tao bonita manha!
Na vida uma nova cançao,
Cantando só teus olhos,
Teu riso e tuas maos,
Pois ha de haver um dia
Em que virás.

Das cordas do meu violao,
Que só teu amor procurou,
Vem uma voz falar
Dos beijos perdidos
Nos lábios teus.

Canta o meu coraçao.
Alegria voltou. Tao feliz
A manha deste amor.

MANHA DE CARNAVAL (English Translation)

Morning, such a nice morning
Of a happy day that has begun!
The sun has risen into the sky
And shone in every heart.
Then dreams have returned
To the heart.

After this happy day,
I don’t know if another day will come,
And our tomorrow,
After all such a beautiful tomorrow
Of carnival.

My heart sings.
Joy has returned. So happy
The morning of this love!

Morning, such a nice morning!
In life there’s a new song,
Singing only of your eyes,
Your smile and your hands,
For there has to be a day
When you come.

From the strings of my violin,
Which seek only your love,
Comes a voice to speak
Of the kisses lost
In your lips.

My heart sings.
Joy has returned. So happy
The morning of this love!

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About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far.

I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents.

Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com

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