quiet / quietly

In Gbaya, the notion of the being quiet or doing something quietly is emphasized with the ideophone sɛ́ɛ́m, which expresses standing still, without moving, quietly, mouth closed.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

quietness

The interconfessional Chichewa translation (publ. 1999) uses the ideophone bata to describe complete quietness. (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 105)

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

complete verse (Isaiah 14:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 14:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “Now, the whole land is quiet and at peace.
    Everyone is singing with joy.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Now, however, there is peace and rest in all the earth.
    And everyone is about to sing songs of joy.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “At the-end, the whole world is now at-peace, and the people sing for joy.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But soon everything will be quiet and peaceful on the earth.
    Everyone will sing again!” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 14:7

The whole earth is at rest and quiet: The whole earth is a hyperbole. It refers to the regions that the Babylonians had dominated. The theme of rest reappears here (see the comments on Isa 14.3). Since the Babylonians can no longer attack, there is rest and quiet in the world.

They break forth into singing: The pronoun they refers back to the singular noun earth by including all the people who suffered under the Babylonians. New Jerusalem Bible avoids the problem of a plural pronoun that has a singular referent by rendering the whole verse as “The whole world is at rest and calm, shouts of joy resounding.” Break forth into singing refers to singing in a loud voice. The Hebrew noun rendered singing comes from a root meaning “shout.” It usually implies shouting for joy. The people who are no longer persecuted by the Babylonians shout for joy since they enjoy peace. A verb such as “celebrate” conveys the sense here adequately. For this line New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “Loudly it cheers.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• The entire world will have peace and rest; it will celebrate with shouts of joy.

• Everywhere there will be peace and tranquility; people will sing for joy.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .