The Greek in Acts 17:18 that is translated into English as “babbler” is translated in a number of different ways:
- Fuyug: “birdbrain” (source: David Clark)
- San Mateo del Mar Huave: “man who does not know how to close his mouth”
- Eastern Highland Otomi: “much-talker man”
- Teutila Cuicatec: “loud-mouthed fellow”
- Chichimeca-Jonaz: “person who does nothing but talk”
- Morelos Nahuatl: “man who talks so much” (source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- Low German: “know-it-all” (Klooksnaker) (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
- Hausa: “owner of noise” (source: Hausa Common Language Bible Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “boaster” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- Mairasi: “guy know who talks out of his own thinking” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
For various English translations, see Translation commentary on Acts 17:18.
The Greek in Luke 15:14 that is translated as “famine” in English is translated in Fuyug as “drought.”
The Greek in John 6:18 that is translated as “the sea (lake) grew rough / rose” in English is translated in Fuyug as “the water began to fight.”
Many languages have terms for siblings that define whether one is younger or older in relation to another sibling.
In Fuyug, Tae’, Batak Toba, and Mandarin Chinese, Martha was assumed to be the older of the two sisters because she is mentioned first. (Sources: David Clark [Fuyug] and Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Navajo (Dinė) translates accordingly but for a different reason: “since Martha seemed to take the responsibility of the housework, she was probably the older of the two” (source: Wallis 2000, p. 103f.) whereas in Mandarin Chinese he is the younger brother.
In Fuyug, Lazarus is assumed to be the oldest sibling on the grounds that he died first, whereas in several Thai translations he is described as the youngest of the three. (Source: David Clark)
In Fuyug society houses are not being sold (such as in Acts 4:34) so the Fuyug translation says that “riches” are being sold instead.
Fuyug has no passive voice, so it was necessary to say who baptized Saul in Acts 9:18. The only possible agent in the text is Ananias, so he was specified.
Since there is no grammatical superlative in Fuyug, the question that is translated in English typically as “which commandment of the law is the greatest,” becomes “in the middle of the word of God, which word is big?” Then the second most important commandment is “the big word that follows.”
In this story in Acts three men are mentioned (Peter, John and the healed man — see Acts 4:14). When in verse 15 the men were ordered to leave the council, presumably all three are asked to leave. But how many are being recalled in verse 18? Languages that distinguish between dual and plural verb forms need to make a decision whether the healed man is included. The translation into Fuyug includes the healed man since he is mentioned again in verse 22.
