fit, worthy

The Greek that is rendered into “worthy” or “fit” in English versions is translated into Sierra Totonac as “proper” / “chief” — “I am not proper / chief enough.” (2nd translation into Sierra Totonac of 1999.)

See also worthy and not worthy / not fit.

centurion

The Greek that is translated as “centurion” in English is translated in Noongar as “boss of the Roman soldiers (lit.: ‘men of fighting’)” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Uma as “Roman army warchief” (source: Uma Back Translation), in Western Bukidnon Manobo as “a person who was not a Jew, the captain of a hundred soldiers” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation), and in Mairasi “leader of Roman warriors” (source: Enggavoter 2004).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Roman Centurion .

formal pronoun: common people addressing Jesus

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, the crowd (or individuals within the crowd) addresses Jesus with the formal pronoun, expressing respect.

complete verse (Matthew 8:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 8:8:

  • Uma: “That army commander answered, he said: ‘Father, I here, I am not a Yahudi person, I am not worthy for you (sing.) to visit. If you (sing.) just say one word, my slave/servant will get well.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But the captain answered, he said, ‘Sir, don’t. I am not worthy for you to come to my house, because you are very great/important. Speak only and my servant will be well.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “‘Not so, Chief,’ answered that captain, ‘because,’ he said, ‘you are greater than I am. I am not worthy that you trouble yourself to come to my house. You are very powerful, and even if you just say, ‘May he get well,’ my servant will get well.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But the captain said, ‘It-might-be-better-if (lit. Even-if) you (sing.) don’t come, Lord, because I am not worthy that you (sing.) enter my house. Even-if (polite, persuasive request) you (sing.) only command it, because your (sing.) word will suffice to heal my servant.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But the captain said, ‘Master, it’s okay if you don’t go with me, because you really are much greater/more-important. I am embarrassed to take you to our (excl.)-place. I am certain that if you just speak now, my servant really will get better.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The captain again spoke to Jesus: ‘But listen Lord, don’t bother yourself. I am not worthy that you enter my house. Now, just speak that the boy will be cured and I know that he will be healed of what he is suffering.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

word (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, the Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “word” or “bidding” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-kotoba (おことば), combining “word” (kotoba) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff.

enter / go to (Japanese honorifics)

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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In some of these verses (Genesis 16:2, 2 Samuel 16:21, 2 Chronicles 6:41, Psalm 132:8), the Hebrew that is translated as “enter” or “go to” or similar in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-hairi (お入り), combining “enter” (hairi) with the respectful prefix o-.

In the other verses, o-ire (お入れ) is used, a similar construct with an intransitive verb “enter.” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

2nd person pronoun with high register (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person. In these verses, however, the more venerable anata-sama (あなた様) is used, which combines anata with the with a formal title -sama.

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

See also formal 2nd person pronoun (Spanish) and the formal vs. the informal pronoun in the Gospels in Tuvan.

respectful form of "give" (kudasaru)

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 to do this is through the usage of lexical honorific forms, i.e., completely different words, as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, kudasaru (下さる), a respectful form of kureru (くれる) or “give” is used.

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

See also respectful form of “give” (tamawaru) and give (Japanese honorifics).