Presbyterian Church in Ireland - Mission Overseas - WYCLIFFE: The challenge of finding the 'right' word

16th June 2011

Translation workers spend a lot of energy on getting the right word. It’s not just a substitution of one word for another, like in a dictionary. It’s important that words are expressive and natural to mother-tongue speakers.

Catherine, who works with people in the Jita language, was recently involved in running a training week for translators.

One of the things they thought about was onomatopoeic words, like a cow’s moo or a cat’s meow.

These words vary from language to language, and it’s important to get them right: it is the difference between the cock crowing or the cock making a loud noise.

In the Zinza translation, they have been travelling to check translations with Zinza speakers.

Someone had suggested a word for ‘prophet’, but everywhere they went they were getting blank looks in response.

In one village, an elderly man was listening, trying to work out what they were saying.

One of the translators, exhausted with many attempts to use this word, pronounced it slightly differently. Suddenly, the man’s face lit up — he knew exactly what the word meant!

The difference between blank stares and understanding was just one vowel sound.

You can read more stories about Bible translation in Uganda and Tanzania, like these ones, on the Task website.

Many people still do not have a single word of the Bible in the language they can understand most naturally.

By supporting the work of Bible translation, you can help them to hear God's word.

READ more about Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) and their partnership with PCI.

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