Testing the Limits of Translation Consulting without Knowing the Target Language: Psalm 24 in Context

Earlier this year, I revised and submitted this paper (click here to download the pdf) as part of a course Translating the Psalms with Lynell Zogbo and Ernst Wendland at JCBT (you can catch a few snapshots of me in the video above). I now have permission to post my paper. Since it may be revised and incorporated in a forthcoming publication, your feedback is welcome. I am blessed to put this training into additional practice by co-leading an upcoming Hebrew poetry workshop for translators!

From the introduction:

What can a translation consultant do when preparing to work with a translation team in a language family with which he is not familiar? Given a scenario where minimal written language data is available to him (e.g., a translation of Scripture with BT; and one TL poem [not Scripture] with BT), how much preparatory analysis on the translation can a global consultant undertake?[1] Despite such challenges, translation consultants strive to understand as much as possible of the TL’s language structure, discourse, etc., in order to make valuable contributions with the team.[2] 

This paper examines important features of Psalm 24 and observes translation strategies employed by one translation, in a language [Olunyaneka, Angola] unfamiliar to the author. We model how using the following method aids the consultant in making important observations in both the Hebrew and TL to prepare for consultant checking. But we also note how minimal TL data results in tentative hypotheses of the translation (esp. the translation’s cognitive effects on the audience).

---

[1] Stephen Doty poses a related question in his article about translation advisors (“Should a Translation Advisor Learn the Target Language?” Notes 10 [1996]: 7–10; cf. a similar question in David M. Golomb and Susan T. Hollis, Working with No Data: Semitic and Egyptian Studies Presented to Thomas O. Lambdin [Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1987]).

[2] Adding to the pressure, the consultant pool reduces as the demands for consultant services remain steady or even increase in the lead-up to 2025. Jordan Monson documents the projections regarding the number of available consultants, noting that in the 10-year period of 2018-2027, 36% of SIL’s consultants (the Baby Boomer generation) are likely to retire, that is, 15 experienced consultants per year (“The Crisis of Youth,” BT Conference paper, October 2017).