Bible Translation Studies Definitions

In DE, when the transformations are made between the SL and the TL, there is no mechanism in place to produce equivalent grammatical structures in the TL. No less a scholar than Susan Bassnet states this. For my essay on transformational grammar as used in Bible translation, including the quote from Bassnet on the lack of an explicit deep structure transfer in DE, see: http://paroikosmissionarykid.blogspot.com/

 

historical linguistics (diachronic linguistics): the study of how language develops and changes over a period of time, in particular the etymology of individual words.

 

etymology: the study of how the meaning of a word develops and changes over time.

 

back translation: a literal retranslation from the document in the target language back to the source language, usually for the purpose of checking the TL translation. This technique is common in tribal translation work, when a translation consultant is being used.

 

contemporary usage: how a word is used in documents other than the source document during the same time frame as the source document.

 

Redefining:

Optimal Equivalence: A method of translation which seeks the optimal expression in the target language; that is, the expression which best reproduces the form and meaning of the original. OE uses transformational/generational grammar to achieve this goal. OE was the method used to translate the NKJV and HCSB. This method's main proponent is Dr. James Price, OT editor of the NKJV and a translator on the HCSB.

 

root fallacy: the mistaken belief that the meaning in contemporary usage of a particular word is determined by its etymology. See Exegetical Fallacies by D. A. Carson for a detailed description of this error.

 

phoneme: in linguistics, a minimum unit of sound. So, "ah" is a phoneme, but "art" is not, since it consists of more sounds than one.

 

morpheme: in linguistics, a minimum unit of meaning. So, "-ed" is a morpheme, but "stopped" is a complete word with more than one morpheme.

Part of the process a linguist goes through in order to analyze a language to produce a written form of it, is to determine and map the phonemes and morphemes of a language. A tribal Bible translator, working in a language with no written form, must spend literally hundreds, maybe thousands of hours to accomplish this.

 

sociolinguistics: the study of language as it relates to society. The value of this discipline for Bible translation is that it helps us consider how the style of a translation relates to the projected readership of that translation.