Wednesday, August 10, 2005
On Language 8/10: Translate Me, Untranslatable You
A few guides for translating the seemingly untranslatable
‘On Language’
Chicago Tribune
August 10, 2005
By Nathan Bierma
temp.link/perm.link
French has the handy phrase “espirit de l’escalier,” which literally means “the wit of the staircase,” but is taken to mean a clever retort that occurs to you too late, after you have left the room (and gone down the stairs, presumably). The French also have a memorable expression for the disheartening monotony of life: “metro-boulot-dodo,” which literally means “subway-work-sleep.” ...
The South Asian language of Urdu has the proverb “oont kis karwat baithta hai,” or “let’s see which way the camel sits.” It means, “wait and see,” since in a sandstorm, the wind direction can be determined by seeing which way the camel turns to shield its face.
Provocative Vocative in Psalm 47
Keith Bodner in JTS recently:
Ps. 47:10 (v. 9 in many English translations) has perplexed commentators and proved elusive for translators. M. D. Goulder wryly describes the syntax of v. 10a as something of an ‘embarrassment’, no doubt because of the theological implications which arise. This short note surveys several opinions and argues that the impasse can be resolved if 10aß is translated as a vocative. This proposal has the advantage of preserving the MT and poetically coheres with the larger structure and drama of the psalm.
Bodner’s recommended translation:
Greek Adjectives, With or Without Articles
The first tricky thing about Greek adjectives, I’m gathering, is that they can have what seems to English speakers to be an extra article. We would say “the large tree”; Greek could have “the tree the large.” From Porter’s Idioms of the Greek NT (more earlier):
The four positions of Greek adjectives:
Position 1: article-adjective-substantive
Position 2: article-substantive-article-adjective
Position 3: substantive-article-adjective
Position 4: adjective-substantive or substanstive-adjectiveActs 1:1: [TON MEN PRÔTON LOGON epoiêsamên] (I completed the first word), position 1. ...
Col. 1:2: [tois en Kolossais hagiois kai pistois adelphois en Christôi] (to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae), position 1. Some interpreters take [hagiois] as a substantival use of the adjective, while others take it as an attributive adjective along with [pistois], which the translation reflects.
Mt 6:14: [aphêsei kai humin ho patêr humôn ho ouranios] (your heavenly father will also forgive you), position 2.
Jn 1:9: [Ên to phôs to alêthinon] (he was the true light), position 2.
Jn 14:27: [eirênên tên emên] (my peace), position 3 ...
Mk 4:32: [poiei kladous megalous] ([a mustard plant] produces large branches), position 4.
The second tricky thing about Greek adjectives is that they can modify the substantive without a linking verb where English would have one: