Ending a story, Kamwe of Nigeria

How do you signal the end to a story?

In an interview by colleagues, Matthew Harley reports about "one of the most marvelous linguistic sounds in the world," used in the "Kamwe language of Nigeria, as the traditional way to end a story":

It consists of a disyllablc ‘ng-ng’ sound, with low-high tone, whilst simultaneously pinching your nose with your forefinger and thumb, and pulling downwards, like pulling a clothes peg off a washing line. The sound was unforgettably first described by a linguist as, “the nasalised nose twang”, and one of my first three students in Nigeria asked me how it could be written. Linguistics doesn’t get much better than that!

For more on the Kamwe, read this 2022 article in Christianity Today.

Conditionals in the NT

 Steve Nicolle and researchers at CanIL are producing a very helpful resource for translating the NT. "Analysis of NT Conditionals by book" analyzes all the "if...then" clauses in the Greek New Testament, verse-by-verse. The resource analyzes the scope of the conditional (using ESV text as base), class of the Greek conditional, inversion of the conditional, level of probability, time orientation, illocutionary force, sample of English translations. It also includes a targeted note about the conditional construction and a list of any parallel passages:

. 

Nothing like this exists yet for the OT, for the Hebrew text or the Greek Septuagint, but that would be a great project to take on!

Importance of Discourse Analysis for Translation

 “It’s not widows that you should steal from (but everyone else!)” 

In the Kifuliiru language of the Democratic Republic of Congo, this could easily be the meaning that results when translating “Don’t steal from widows!” The only error in the translation of this sentence is the focus, or the most important word of the sentence. The translators have learned with the help of a consultant that they need to reorder sentences in order to have the correct focus and meaning. 

(from Steve Nicolle)

Translating Presuppositions and Exodus 18:2-3

The past few days, I attended the Bible Translation Conference in Dallas. The last paper/presentation I heard was Paul Kroeger's "Translating Presuppositions," and it was very enjoyable (and helpful!). The following points are from some of his presentation and handout:

New information can be packaged as if it were old info. For example:

• Two people meet each other for the first time and one asks the other to go with him somewhere. The second one responds and says, "No, I have to pick up my sister."

"My sister" is presented as shared knowledge, but before the utterance, the first person did not know the second one had a sister. This is therefore a case where the utterance is treated as though shared info, and not controversial.

Definition of presupposition from SIL Online Glossary of Linguistic Terms:

A presupposition is background belief, relating to an utterance, that

• must be mutually known or assumed [or--Kroeger argued--considered not controversial/challengeable] by the speaker and addressee for the utterance to be considered appropriate in context...

Exodus 18:2-3a contains an informative presupposition:

Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken Zippo'rah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her away, and her two sons...

The clause "after he had sent her away" is presented as though the reader already knows this happened, when in fact, this is the first we hear of it in the OT narrative.

Translations handle the presupposition in various ways.

• NCV: Now Moses had sent his wife Zipporah to Jethro, his father-in-law, along with her two sons.
• NIV: Moses had sent his wife Zipporah to his father-in-law. So Jethro welcomed her...
• CEV: In the meantime, Moses had sent his wife Zipporah and her two sons to stay with Jethro, and he had welcomed them in.
• NLT: Earlier, Moses had sent his wife, Zipporah, and his two sons back to Jethro, who had taken them in.
• Brazilian Portuguese "Today's Language" Version (Eng. BT): So he went to the place where Moses was, bringing Zipporah, Moses' wife. Moses had sent Zipporah and her two sons to the house of Jethro.

Alternative rendering as conventional implicature:

• UBS Handbook on Exodus (option b): So Jethro came to Moses bringing with him Moses' wife Zipporah, whom Moses had left behind.
• Indonesian Terjemahan Baru (Eng. BT): Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought Zipporah, Moses' wife--who had earlier been sent back/ordered to return by Moses-

Some options for translation:

1. As a separate assertion (i.e., Moses had sent away his wife; e.g., NIV) . But the SL treats it as background info, and the main point of the SL should the main point of the TL if following Callow 1974: 59.
2. As a parenthetical (i.e., "....--Moses had sent her away--...")
3. As a relative clause (i.e., "whom Moses had left behind" (UBS Handbook)

Some questions to ask of the translation option chosen:

• Does repackaging the information go too far away from the meaning of the SL?
• What is the cost-benefit analysis of the translation decision?

Loan Words in Hausa

Stark discusses a loan word situation in Hausa:

"The speaker, uncertain of how to express a complex concept in his second language, may simply use terms from his first language, trusting to context to carry sufficient meaning to the hearer. Even assuming the context is sufficient, and the hearer fully understands the concept expressed by the foreign term, he in turn must then decide how to express the concept in his first language. Using the foreign term is often seen as the surest way of getting the information right.

 

A fairly innocuous example, at least as far as theological content is concerned, can be found in the 1932 version of the Hausa Bible, where the word ‘tent’ is tent. Genesis 12:8 finds Abram on the move: ‘From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east’ (NIV). Even without any knowledge of Hausa, a reader can spot the ‘translation’ of the word tent in the following passage: Daga chan kuma ya, aura zuwa dutsen da ke gabashin Beth-el, ya kafa tent nasa, da ya tura Beth-el a yamma (1932). Due to the fact that the translators were unsure how to express the idea of tent, the term was taken directly from the first language of the translators, and continues to be read in churches today [later translations of the Hausa Bible had more indigenous options]. One is tempted to ask how it came about that in a language and culture so closely tied to the nomadic cattle-herding Fulani lifestyle, the translators could not find an indigenous term for the temporary dwelling of people as they travel with large herds of cattle, goats and sheep! Nonetheless, the point is that the chance of getting things wrong by using the wrong word is such a great risk that converts often prefer to use the exact words used by those who taught them. Thus loan words abound in recently adopted religions, and are often seen as safer than trying to express a concept in the local language, even when the borrowed term is completely void of conceptual content to the majority of the converts."

(John Stark, The Role of Oral Literature in the Dissemination of Neologisms, 12-13)

Verbs in Mark 15:19

Recently with a translation team, I asked about the verb tenses used in Mark 15:19. The translation at first read,

And they beat him over his head with reed stick, spat on him and knelt down and bowed down to him. (English Back Translation)

We made two changes in this verse, one regarding the final action of this verse (which is not under discussion here) and the other pertaining to TAM (tense, aspect, mood) (the focus of this post).

The Greek verbs here are all in the imperfect form which lead many scholars to conclude that these actions were not just one blow, spit, and kneel but provided a short "video" of some of the persecution our Lord underwent--whether several different people did these actions in turn or one monolithic group did them over and over again. For example, ESV translates "And they were striking...spitting...kneeling"; NIV and NET add "again and again they struck him..."; and HCSB translates as "They kept hitting..."

Once this was explained to the team, they re-read their verse and discovered that they had translated these actions as happening only once rather than repeatedly. By adding "many times," the team adjusted the TAM to more accurately reflect the repetitive nature of these verbs.

This was a dark hour for our Lord, especially since he bore the wrath of his Father who forsook him. But Jesus endured it "for the joy set before him" (Hebrews 12:2 ESV). And Peter wrote, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24 ESV). O praise Jesus for his suffering and his efficacious death, "so that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18 ESV)!    

Scripture Use: Audio-Visual Training in Africa

A friend of ours made this video about training Bible translation teams and/or other members of the language communities, assisting them in using the translated Word of God.  The 3:11-long video is in French, but anglophones can also benefit greatly from watching Scripture engagement in action in Africa.

A World of Languages

This infographic was recently published. This sociolinguistics article points to some issues with the data of the graphic - although I must say that this infographic is overall VERY helpful!

http://cdn3.scmp.com/sites/default/files/2015/05/27/languages.png

Ethnologue.Bible

Ethnologue:Bible is a new initiative to organize language data. It is still in beta testing, but it looks to be a great place for Bible translators and the church to access information for prayer and strategizing.

Here's what the Ethnologue:Bible says about itself:

Get a complete picture of Bible translation - in one place....Ethnologue:Bible ties together information from many partners to provide a comprehensive view of Bible translation across the world, based on language - including translation need, program status, and available products. All in one place.

7 Language Facts to Amaze Your Friends

Wycliffe has written about 7 fun language facts and begun posting about them once a month, October and November, so far. The final two facts will be posted at the end of December, but here's what's been written already:

Facts:
1. Many languages have never been written down.
2. In some languages, a single word can have several meanings.
3. Some languages don't have words for stuff we say everyday.
4. Some languages have way more verbs than we do in English.
5. Some languages can be whistled.
6. (forthcoming)
7. (forthcoming)

Swadesh Word List

Historical-comparative Linguistics
Ever wonder what are some tools that linguists use to compare one language with another?

Swadesh List
In Nigeria and in other places, the (final) Swadesh list established 100 words that, once solicited from one language, can provide helpful comparative information in light of other languages. Some linguistic surveyors and other researches have used and continue today to use this resource.

Some words on the Swadesh List
I (personal pronoun)
not
dog
mouth
eat (verb)
die (verb)
bush
fire
name

Swadesh's Full Final List of 100 Terms

7 Reasons To Consider Zephaniah 3:14-15 As Zeph's Peak

Zephaniah 3:14-15:
"Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice
and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil." (ESV)

Peak can be defined as "a zone of turbulence," where there are significant shifts and departures from the typical discourse structures (we are following Longacre's definitions and categories both here and below). There are at least 7 reasons to count 3:14-15 as Zephaniah's hortatory discourse peak.

1. Rhetorical underlining - repetition: 4 imperatives are repeated in 3:14 (more than in any other verse in Zeph).
2. Concentration of participants - crowded stage: Zion, Israel, Jerusalem, daughter, and God/LORD are all participants addressed or discussed elsewhere in the book.
3. Heightened vividness - shift in verbal balance: The 4 imperatives in 3:14 are not of the same roots, unlike how Zeph had done when stacking imperatives (2:1, 3).
4. Heightened vividness - shift in tense: The only time in Zeph that imperatives are grounded in qatal verbs (3:15, "has taken away...has cleared away").
5. Heightened vividness - shift in person and/or number: The only time in Zeph that the book has feminine singular imperatives.
6. Incidence of Particles - loss of prose particles: Prose particles are found in the preceding and following sections, but none in 3:14-15.
7. Change of Pace - shift in number of conjunctions: Zephaniah always grounds his imperatives with some conjunction, but 3:15 does not contain any.

An 8th argument may be a change of vantage point/theme in Zephaniah from judgment to deliverance, and 3:14-15 sits squarely in the middle of this change at a rhetorical high point (3:8-20 focuses on deliverance).

(Adapted from my thesis, "'King of Israel' and 'Do not fear, daughter of Zion': The Use of Zephaniah 3 in John 12.")

Francophone Week

10 words are chosen each year as part of a week of celebrating the French language. This year, they chose words largely borrowed from the French and used in other languages: bouquet, coup de foudre, vis-à-vis, cachet, savoir faire, unique, atelier, équipe, protéger, voilà.

How many of the 10 do you recognize?  Beware of the faux amis (false friends)!

Some statistics cited in an article about this week include:

• 220 million speakers of French globally
• 80% of them are in Africa
• Speakers of English outnumber speakers of French 20:1

Genesis 17-22: Ça y est!

3 Languages at Genesis 17-22 Workshop
Today was the last day of the 2-week long translation course on Genesis 17-22 for the Matal, Hdi and Muyang languages.  The teams worked hard and did good work.

While I worked in assisting to verify some of the Hdi and Muyang translations, the consultant worked with the Matal, being always ready to help the other 3 additional language groups that were scheduled to come but in the end did not attend.  

Sorry, no pictures for the moment, since I don't have access to my camera's data transfer cable.

Workshopping Genesis 21
Have many anecdotes to share, but I will content myself with sharing one for now.

One of the more difficult texts to translate was Genesis 21:25:

And Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized.

A few problems presented themselves for translation, for example: the meaning of the verb "reproved" in the original context, and translating in the respective language "seizing" an impersonal, immovable object.  The word "seize" in at least two of the languages is commonly used for objects that are portable, but not for immovable wells, requiring another, similar verb in the translation. (By the way, these same languages also had difficulties with verses like Genesis 22:2 "Take your son" since their verb for "take" can only be used for objects and not for people.)

Well, this whole idea of seizing, which we discussed it earlier this week, was repeatedly discussed by the translators to the point where today one of the translators said, with a twinkle in his eye as he alluded to this passage, "The other day, I went to the market with my cell phone, and someone seized it. I have not seen it since."

Lost Parakeet Piko Tells Police Its Own Address

Talking animals are linguistically intriguing. Here's a story from Japan about a talking parakeet found and returned to its owner because it told the police its address!

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(HT: Dad)

Excellent Clip Art (for Language Study) Website

Check clip art etc out!  Well-organized, alphabetical by collections (e.g. animals, home, people, places, plants), un-distracting and uncluttered images. Helpful. But not entirely contextualized for Africa - hey you can't get it all in one place now, can you!

Their explanatory blurb:

Welcome to quality educational clipart. Every item comes with a choice of image size and format as well as complete source information for proper citations in school projects. No advertisement-filled pages with pop-up windows or inappropriate links here. A friendly license allows teachers and students to use up to 50 educational clipart items in a single, non-commercial project without further permission.

HT: Phillip 

Catchy Banner Ad on Language

Saw this banner ad recently (quick parenthesis: I rarely look at banner ads as they are usually a waste of time and quite spammy, but as this one had to do with ridiculous claim to learn language in 10 days, it caught my eye).

So this launched me into finding out what method this guy uses, and discovered it was the Pimsler Method.  Essentially, the method focuses on oral retention and oral production of what is heard, rather than working on written text of the language.

Mark Kaiser, a Language Center administrator at Berkley, posted this critique:

I suppose we could engage in some nitpicking: could the "sneaky linguistic secret" referred to in the ad be the audio lingual method? After all, the Pimsleur method is basically listen and repeat, which is hardly a secret and hardly sneaky. And while one might be free from the computer, one will still be tethered to some kind of audio production device. And just what is meant by "speaking another language" in 10 days leaves volumes unsaid. At the college level we have students speaking after the first 50 minutes in the classroom, so take that!

As for my small critique, on the one hand, it seems there are some commendable aspects of the Pimsleur method: the fact that listening and oral retention is focused upon, and the stress on active participation over rote memorization. However, on the other hand, I am not thrilled about the false sense of accomplishment, not to mention the potential harm done to one's long-term language production by hastening the oral production of what is heard. Accurate production comes from active listening over time, and only when the words surface closer to the top of the "iceberg" does a high level of successful production result (exceptions made, of course, for basic survival and greeting phrases, etc!).

First Cameroonian Soccer Match, a Win!

I played in my first Cameroonian soccer match yesterday. You might be able to pick me out of the crowd. I am the white guy!

It was a friendly match between the Cameroonian and international organizations, and I had the honor to play the entirety of the game for the Cameroonian org team (the blue jerseys).  We won 5-4, and I had 2 assists! So, I am super happy and ready to play again, well, maybe not today.

Basaa Excursion Tonight

Elizabeth and I went with a friend from the Cameroonian translation organization across the street from us, to a literacy seminar on the Basaa language.  Our friend was one of the two teachers, both native speakers of the language.  They already have the Bible translated in their language but in an out-dated writing system (which had been restricted to the French alphabet).

Some Basaa Facts:

• Spoken by about 230,000 people 
• Bantu language family
• One of the scholars we met at B4NTU Conference (Larry Hyman) has done work on the language

About tonight's seminar:

• 3 different levels met (beginner, intermediate, and advanced)
• Attended by all generations - some of the French-speaking younger generation are learning it because it has not used in the academic domain (writing and reading)
• Learned a portion of the alphabet
• Practiced some total physical response with the commands 'sit', 'stand', 'give it to me', etc.
• Interacted some with the writing system, e.g. the tone markings

For more info, visit our post on Bantu languages.

Jim Elliot on His Language Learning Experience

Was encouraged in reading this journal entry of Jim Elliot, since we cling to the same God while we share some of what he experienced - the language mistakes, the temptations to compare, the feelings of inadequacy, etc...:

July 26--Marveled at my inner weakness yesterday. Felt miserably unworthy to be here as an 'administrator of the mysteries of God.' Strange that I should - evidently for life - be put to such close contact with Pete and Betty whom I feel are far my intellectual superiors... They are both able to correct my grammar and pronunciation, and seem to be able to apply tense rules so much easier than I. Felt weepy and useless yesterday at noon, swept with waves of envy and defeated wonderings about such things.