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After Paraguay lost most of its population in a huge war in the 1870s, there was literally nobody alive who could remember the entire Paraguayan national anthem
by saint_fiasco 11y ago
After Paraguay lost most of its population in a huge war in the 1870s, there was literally nobody alive who could remember the entire Paraguayan national anthem, and all written records were lost.
So our lyrics of our National Anthem now consist of all the fragments people could kinda remember all smashed together, including some parts that make no sense (Can any Spanish speaker tell me what the word "infausto" is supposed to mean?).
The gaps in the melody were filled by copying La Marseillaise, I believe.
- omegant 11y agoThere you have: infausto, infausta adjetivo formal [hecho, situación] Que trae desgracia y causa tristeza, dolor o sufrimiento moral. "un infausto recuerdo; nadie quiere hablar del infausto día en que fueron derrotados" Adj. situation that brings disgrace and causes sadness or pain.
- saint_fiasco 11y agoThank you. Just knowing for sure that it is an adjective helps a lot. That word appears pretty far from the noun it's supposed to modify, so it was not obvious. This is the first line of the Paraguayan National Anthem: "A los pueblos de América infausto tres centurias un cetro oprimió" Parsing that sentence is a common exam question for college admissions.