Psalm 119: 22 times 8

I have just this afternoon finished checking through the draft of Psalm 119 in Kasem, all 176 verses. I wanted to get it done before the weekend and just made it. An amazing Psalm all round, with a mention of God’s Word in almost every verse.

It poses similar challenges to the translator as the lists in Daniel (see my earlier blog). The Hebrew uses 8 different terms in referring to the Word of God, e.g. law, testimony, ordinance/judgment, commandment, statutes, precepts, word, promise/word. However, the Psalmist’s choice from among these terms is largely governed by the demands of the poetic structure, rather than focusing on a particular facet of meaning in each instance. The 176 verses are divided into 22 stanzas (strophes) of 8 lines each, and within each stanza each of the 8 lines starts with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet, working through all 22 letters successively. Wow! Can you imagine the Psalmist composing within those restrictions? If we tried it in English, how would we manage when we got to the letter X? Even Q or J would be difficult enough. The Psalmist seemed most limited by the letter D (Daleth) in Hebrew, using just three words to start the 8 lines: derek “way” (5 times), dabaq “to join” (twice) and dalap “to drop, drip, droop, weep, melt… meaning uncertain” (just once).

But there seems to be another scheme interweaving with this, whereby the eight different Hebrew terms for God’s Word are spread across the 8 lines of each stanza. In fact, only 3 of the stanzas have all 8 terms, a different one in each line. Maybe the Psalmist found the constraints just too much to manage this in every stanza.

In Kasem, we have (so far) managed to identify 6 words which may be used to cover the 8 Hebrew terms. Three of these are compounds based on the word ni “mouth” which is the term used for a command or order.  The translator aims at consistency as to which Kasem term is used for each, but also tries to ensure that the 6 available terms are spread evenly through the stanzas in order to reflect the apparent aim of the Psalmist. Has there been any translation which tries to reproduce the acrostic nature of the Hebrew text, starting each line with the designated letter? Now that would be fun to try!

Cracker jokes

Not many memorable jokes coming out of the crackers this year. What’s changed? Here are one or two that took my fancy. Can you come up with some better ones?

Q: What do you call a man with no shins? A: Tony.

Q: What goes “Oh Oh Oh!”? A: Santa walking backwards.

Q: What athlete is warmest in winter? A: A long  jumper.

Q: What do you call just-married spiders? A: Newly webs.

Q: Why did the golfer wear an extra pair of trousers? A: In case he got a hole in one.

Not all new but worthy of a chuckle.

Lists in Daniel

The prophet Daniel, or whoever chronicled the book that bears his name, liked lists. For a start there’s the fairly modest list of clever people that King Nebuchadnezzar summoned to explain his dream to him:

magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and wise men Daniel 2:2

Or a bit later on:

wise men, astrologers, magicians, and diviners Daniel 2:27

By the next chapter, we’re introduced to the list of important people that Nebuchadnezzar summoned to the dedication of his mighty statue:

satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other authorities of the province Daniel 3:2 (and again in 3:3)

 This is quickly followed by the herald’s  command to:

peoples, nations, and language groups Daniel 3:4

that they are to bow down and pay homage to the golden statue, whenever they hear the sound of:

the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music Daniel 3:5 (and 3:7 and 3: 10 …)

I think by now you get the idea of lists.  What does the translator make of them? The above are all quoted from the NET Bible (New English Translation). Other English versions use different words to translate the range of Aramaic terms (yes, this part of Daniel is in Aramaic, rather than Hebrew). You may find triangles, dulcimers, zithers and even bagpipes among the musical instruments if you look carefully in different versions. The truth is we can’t always be sure what was precisely the nature of each one, but in this case they all seem to be either wind or string instruments, with no percussion instruments included, unless “triangle” is a correct understanding of “trigon” (and NRSV does throw a drum in, in place of bagpipe).

Kasem has a suitable range of terms for horns and pipes but only one term for a stringed instrument which is plucked. It is tempting to fill the list out with various terms for drums, since Kasem has no shortage of these, but this would be at variance with the historical setting of the passage. A good approach for the translator seems to be to see what range of terms is available in the language and use these to spread across a similar spectrum without necessarily trying to match term for term individually. This may produce a shorter list (or even a longer one) but the variety is represented. Sometimes one just has to resort to “stringed instruments of different kinds” if there is just one term for a stringed instrument available in the language, as in Kasem.

Of course there are lists in other books of the Bible, but in Daniel they seem almost to take on a life of their own.

Organ donations via Freecycle

Checking up on recent Freecycle postings this morning, I found one that starts:

 Ashwood Care Centre, Hayes, has recently had an organ very kindly donated by a local gentleman …

Kidney? Cornea? First time I’ve seen organ transplants being facilitated on Freecycle. Still, one has to be open to new trends. Read on, read on …

If you have sheet music you don’t need, it would be put to wonderful use as there is nothing they like better at the home than a good sing song.

Aah — I see. A new lease of life can be given by more than one kind of organ.

Adding zip and pow!

I’m now catching up with backlogs after a successful 4-week trip to the north of Ghana. We got several Old Testament books in Kasem checked with the translators, Jonah, Abraham and James.  As well as several of the minor prophets (Hosea, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum) we checked verse-by-verse through Jeremiah (8 days) and Lamentations (1 day). Each time I work with the translators I find I have expanded my understanding of a new area of the language. This time it was ideophones.

Idephones seem to occur in most languages and can be described as ‘a vivid representation of an idea in sound.’  They relate to sensory perceptions such as colour, sound (onomatopoeia), smell and texture, and often are linguistically distinct elements of the language, falling outside the normal phonological and grammatical categories. In Kasem they usually function in an adverbial capacity.

The OT prophets had vivid revelations from God, often expressed in visual terms. The Hebrew word הִנֵּה <hinneh>, usually translated “behold” in the more literal English versions, is a frequent reminder that God’s revelation came in visions, or as very vivid first-hand experiences. The word occurs 140 times in the book of Jeremiah. Ideophones seem to be a way of capturing this impact in Kasem.  Here are some examples used in Jeremiah:

bigila-bigila	fat, well-fed	Jer. 5:8, 28, 46:21
bele-bele	agitated, distressed	Jer. 30:6
bɔge-bɔge	in uproar, confusion	Jer. 16:8
bugi-bugi	uncontrolled, ablaze	Jer. 25:36
buri-buri	sudden collapse	Jer. 51:58
chwolololo	tall and towering	Jer. 46:18
diŋ-diŋ	tight, secure	Jer. 50:33
fugi-fugi	overflowing, boiling over	Jer. 46:8
jalam-jalam	aimlessly	Jer. 15:17
jilli	all together as a group	Jer. 25:11
keleŋe	swept clean	Jer. 43:12, 49:10
kere-kere	shocked (face)	Jer. 30:6
mura-mura	smashed in pieces	Jer. 50:23
nyelamm	completely consumed	Jer. 15:3
palalala	spread wide and open	Jer. 10:12, 40:4, 51:15
pare-pare	spread out	Jer. 25:33
vera-vera	persistently	Jer. 46:22
zɔŋ-zɔŋ	completely destroyed	Jer. 4:6, 48:20

These are just examples of Kasem ideophones used in Jeremiah. There are plenty more! We do need to test these for acceptability. There doesn’t seem to be a problem using these expressions in written communication, but we need to be sure they are understood and accepted across the language area.

Now on Twitter!

Getting ready to go to Ghana for four weeks, leaving next Thursday 8th October, I’ve been trying to get organised. Yesterday I formatted and printed out two versions of our Kasem-English Dictionary, one A5 format, one A4. Looks neat! With the high cost of printing, electronic distribution seems the way to go, but I’ll leave some printed master copies in Ghana so that they can be run off on a photocopier. I’ve also printed out an illustrated booklet with the Kasem translation of  the book of Jonah.

I thought it would be good while I’m in Ghana to keep in touch via Twitter. There’s now a feed of my recent Tweets at the top right of this blog page. I’m not on the internet when up in the north of Ghana but I can send Tweets from a mobile phone. At least, that’s the theory. We’ll see. It’s a whole new area of technology to get to grips with. Join me!

Language of the Heart

I just came across a recent newspaper clipping, but I didn’t note which paper it came from. It’s headed “First in line: Foreign language advertising” and it’s by Emily Ford. The point being made is that, in advertising, one’s mother tongue works best. Based on a study from RSM Erasmus University in Rotterdam:

People who speak more than one language respond more acutely to marketing messages delivered in their native tongue.

Why? It seems that even for those who have good command of a second language and understand the message well in that language, it is communication in their first language which touches their emotions and evokes a response.

It is thought to be linked to the way in which people link words with memories. Theory suggests that we associate certain words with our experiences. Reading or hearing a word subconsciously reminds us of these memories, generating an emotional response. … So messages delivered in a first language are more emotional than those in a second language.

If people are to have their hearts touched by the most important message of all, God’s Word, they need to hear it in their mother tongue, the language of their heart. I think we knew that already, but it’s good to see the same principle confirmed in a different sphere.

An unreached minority?

We had a Vision Day yesterday at Wycliffe, led by the UK Director, Eddie Arthur. One thing in particular which Eddie said struck me forcibly.  When Jesus saw how harassed and helpless were the people coming to him, he said to his disciples,

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37–38)

What was the world population in Jesus’ day? Apparently about 100 million. How many people today do not have access to the Scriptures in a language they understand well? 200 million! Enough said. See the full statistics on our Wycliffe page (click the tab above).

Happy Birthday, Ben

It’s Ben’s 3rd birthday today, September 2nd. He’s Dave & Kerry’s older boy and the middle of our 3 grandsons. We went up to Gateshead to visit the family for a weekend early in August. It was actually warm and sunny! Kerry’s parents very nobly moved out of their home for the weekend so that we could enjoy more space together. They also have a garden.

Ben & Caleb

On the Saturday we went to see Prudhoe Castle, parts of which date back to the 13th Century. It was built to keep the Scots at bay, like several castles up there. The name is apparently pronounced ‘Prudder’. We were the first to arrive and enjoyed a very relaxed look around followed by sandwiches on the grass outside the walls.

Prudhoe castle visit

Catching up

We have some catching up to do on various fronts, so here goes.

Judy’s cataract

Judy now has new glasses which make the necessary correction for changes to her eye as a result of the cataract surgery. Her vision is much improved and she is now confident to drive again. Thank you for praying.

Philip’s Ménière’s

Philip has been clear of serious bouts of dizziness since mid-June. A series of tests at the JR hospital in Oxford in August confirmed that the right-side balance canals are not functioning at 100% and that is not likely to change. Each attack apparently does a small amount of permanent damage to the balance mechanism and to the hearing on that side. However, the consultant felt that the disease could well go into remission and not trouble me for some time. He also said that flying was not likely to cause a problem, which is something that had concerned me. So overall, positive news. Pray that it will indeed be kept under control and not be a disruption.

Ghana trip planned

As a result of progress on the above, Philip has booked another visit to work with the Kasem OT translators in Ghana, leaving October 8th and returning November 5th. This should give me 3 weeks in Navrongo to work on checking through the translation with Jonah, Abraham and James.

OT progress

Meanwhile, after Philip finished his check on Jeremiah, he went on to Hosea, and has now also finished that. Now doing some next-stage (final?) revisions on 1 & 2 Samuel. Last week I updated to a new version of Paratext, the software developed by the United Bible Societies to assist translators, making all resources easily accessible. This has meant an old dog learning some new tricks, but the new features are well worth the effort.