cardinal directions

According to Anne Garber Kompaoré (in Le Sycomore 3/2009, p. 34ff. ), there are 4 ways to identify cardinal directions:

1. celestial bodies, especially the sun and certain stars
2. geographical landmarks, for example a mountain, sea, or river (depending on its position or the direction in which the water flows) etc.
3. climatic phenomena, such as the wind and the direction from which rain comes
4. bodily reference points, especially front, back, left, and right, in relation to celestial bodies or geographical landmarks

Following are examples of how these are practically implemented by various languages: (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight)

Celestial Bodies

East and west are often translated by the rising and the setting of the sun (note that the origin of English and other Indo-European languages is “dawn” for “east” and “evening” [i.e. sun-down] for “west”):

  • Maan: “where the sun comes up” and “where the sun goes down” (source: Don Slager)
  • Kankanaey: “from the coming-out of the sun “and “going-away of the sun” (source: Kankanaey back-translation)
  • Northern Emberá: “from where the sun comes up” and “from where the sun falls” (source: Charles Mortensen)
  • Ejamat “the side where the sun comes from” and “the side where it sets” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
  • Tzeltal: “where the sun pours-out” (west) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Mono (DRC): “of-hole-sun” (west)
  • Belanda Bor: “place morning” and “place evening”
  • Shambala: “side sink sun” (south)
  • Northern Ngbandi: “the sun behind the chief’s house” (east — the chief lives traditionally at the eastern side of the village, therefore he does not get the sunlight into his eyes) and “under the sun” (west)
  • Northwestern Dinka: “earth behind” (east — the place behind the earth, i.e. the area where the sun rises)
  • Bari: “Morning Star” / “Venus” (east)
  • Chopi: “sky” (north) (source for this and six above: Angelika Mietzner and Helma Pasch in Skase Journal of Theoretical Linguistics 4, 3/2007 )

Geographical Landmarks

  • Kele: “down-river” (west) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Jula: “salt village” (north — because salt comes from the north, from the Sahara Desert) and “kola village” (south — since kola comes from the coastal region to the south) (source: Garber Kompaoré)
  • Matumbi: “toward the beach” (East) (the coast is in the eastern direction in Matumbi-speaking areas), “north” and “south” can be defined as above or below another place (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Lamba: “to the Aushi country” (north) / kumausi and “to the Lenje country” (south) / kumalenje (source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
  • Acoli: “right” (of the local White Nile) (north) and “left” (of the White Nile) (south)
  • Zande: “interior (dry) land” (east); “place-inside-country” (north / south) — Zande, like a number of other languages, including Matengo and Hehe, traditionally only has three cardinal directions.
  • Belanda Bor: “lower place” (north) and “higher place” (south)
  • Turkana: “(up)stream” (north) and (down)stream (south)
  • Mono (DRC): “water place” (south) (source for this and five above: Mietzner / Pasch)

Climatic Phenomena

  • Shilluk: “opening westwind” (north) and “opening eastwind” (south)
  • Swahili used to have six directions. In reducing them to four, kusini and kaskazini which used to refer to south-west and north east respectively (the directions from where the two monsoons blow) have become the terms for “south” and north.” (source for this and one above: Mietzner / Pasch)

Bodily Reference Points

  • Nuer / Burun: “face” and “sun face” respectively (both: east)
  • Kalenjin: “eye sun” (east) (this and the one above indicate that the sun is “facing” the spectator from its position in the east:
  • Shilluk: doesn’t use a fixed position of the speaker, instead it has “eye sun morning” for east and “eye sun evening” for west
  • Mono (DRC): “foot-sun” (east — the start of the sun’s journey)
  • Burun: “sun leg” (west — the end of the sun’s journey)
  • Bari: “back” (north — when people are facing south, north is at their back) (source for this and above: Mietzner / Pasch)
  • Northern Emberá “the looking [left] hand” (north) and “the real [right] hand” (south) (source: Charles Mortensen)
  • Morelos Nahuatl: “from above” (north) and “from below” (south) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

When all four directions are mentioned, translators tend to avoid listing the four, sometimes verbose terms, and chose solutions like “all directions” (such as in Maan or Manya (source: Don Slager). Yakan has “from the four corners of the earth” (source: Yakan back-translation) and Western Bukidnon Manobo “from the four directions here on the earth” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo back-translation).

The Hebrew text that gives instructions where to place items in the tabernacle with the help of cardinal directions (north and south) had to be approached in the Bambam translation specific to spacial concepts of that culture. Phil Campbell explains: “There are no words in Bambam for north and south. In Exodus 26:35, God instructs that the table is to be placed on the north side and the lamp on the south side inside the tabernacle. The team wants to use right and left to tell where the lamp and table are located. In many languages we would say that the table is on the right and the lampstand is on the left based on the view of someone entering the tabernacle. However, that is not how Bambam people view it. They view the placement of things and rooms in a building according to the orientation of someone standing inside the building facing the front of the building. So that means the table is on the left side and the lampstand is on the right side.”

See also people of the East and three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east.

complete verse (Isaiah 41:25)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 41:25:

  • Kupsabiny: “There is a person in the East whom I have incited to come.
    I am driving that person
    for that person to come to start a war
    from the side of North.
    He shall trample on kings like when
    one steps on the mud of pots.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I have chosen someone from the north and he will come.
    Having come from east, he will call on my name.
    Like mud is trampled to soften it and like a potter tramples the clay,
    he will trample rulers. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I chose to rule a man from the north. He takes-refuge in me; and now he is-coming from the east. He will destroy the ones who-rule like the treading of a potter of mud which he will-make into a clay-pot.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Isaiah 41:25

I stirred up one from the north: The person God caused to be victorious here is clearly the same one as in verse 2. He was Cyrus, the Persian emperor. Translators should render stirred up in the same way in both verses to highlight the connection between them. However, in verse 2 God brought him “from the east,” but here it is from the north. Persia, the homeland of Cyrus, was east of Babylonia, but he attacked Babylonia from the north since he captured that area first.

And he has come: As a result of God’s action, Cyrus’ advance against Babylonia and other nations is already under way.

From the rising of the sun: This literal rendering is an obvious reference to the east, mentioned in verse 2. It is a poetic expression that translators should keep if possible. If not, they may say simply “from the east.” In Revised Standard Version this phrase is independent, but it is better to link it with he has come. A model for the first part of the verse that does this is “I stirred up someone from the north, and he has come from the rising of the sun.” Good News Translation changes the order of from the north and from the rising of the sun to avoid a conflict with verse 2 by saying “I have chosen a man who lives in the east; I will bring him to attack from the north.” However, this rendering departs a little too far from the original text. A better model is “I brought a person to attack from the north; he has come from the east.”

And he shall call on my name: There is a textual problem here, which is evident when comparing the various versions. There are four possible readings:

(1) Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh follow Masoretic Text. These versions imply that Cyrus is or will be a worshiper of Yahweh. Their reading is supported by the Vulgate and the Syriac.
(2) New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, and New American Bible follow Dead Sea Scrolls, which reads “and he [Cyrus] will be called by his name.” This means God’s call of Cyrus is a personal one.
(3) Revised English Bible emends Masoretic Text to read “I called … him in my name,” which means God called Cyrus in his authority. This may be the reading that Good News Translation follows with “I have chosen a man.”
(4) Still others emend Masoretic Text to read “and he is called by my name,” which means God gave Cyrus a special name. This implies a close relationship between Yahweh and Cyrus.

We encourage translators to follow Masoretic Text here, as in Revised Standard Version. This is also the recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project and de~Waard. Revised Standard Version uses future tense here and in the next line, but many versions have present tense (so New International Version, Nouvelle Bible Segond). The Hebrew text allows for either tense, but we prefer present tense.

He shall trample on rulers as on mortar, as the potter treads clay: These two lines use two similes to describe Cyrus’ aggressive military advance. He shall trample on rulers means he will conquer other kings (see the comments on Isa 41.2). Revised Standard Version has changed the Hebrew text to read trample instead of “come.” There is no textual evidence to support this change, but most commentators agree that it makes good sense in the context with mortar as an object and treads as a parallel verb. Rulers translates a Hebrew term borrowed from Akkadian; it refers to regional rulers. In many languages “kings” will be a suitable option.

The first simile, as on mortar, compares Cyrus’ advance to the way a mason treads on mortar. Mortar is the material used for holding stones or bricks together in a building. Nowadays cement is used, but in ancient times other materials, including mud (so Good News Translation), were used. In 10.6 the Hebrew word translated mortar is rendered “mire” in a another context of “treading down.” When a mason prepared mortar, he added water to the materials used, and trod on them until they were will mixed. In the same way Cyrus trod on other rulers, meaning he defeated them.

The second simile, as the potter treads clay, is nearly identical in form and meaning to the first one. It compares the advance of Cyrus to a potter treading clay. A potter tramples with his feet a mixture of clay and a small amount of water, until the mixture is soft enough for him to work with it. This imagery also suggests Cyrus’ complete victory over other rulers. For potter see the comments on 29.16.

In cultures where treading mortar for building and clay for pots is unknown, translators may use alternative imagery; for example, the last two lines of this verse may be rendered “he will wipe out rulers completely” or “he will thrash rulers entirely.” A possible nonfigurative model is “he will defeat rulers thoroughly.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• “I raised up someone from the north,
he has come from the rising of the sun;
he calls upon my name.
He treads down rulers as someone [or, a mason] treads mortar,
and as a potter treads clay.

• “I have stirred up a person from the north,
from the east he has come;
he worships me.
He tramples down kings as someone treads mortar,
and as a potter treads clay.

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 .