ideophones in Psalm 143:4

Psalm 143:4 is translated into Gbaya with the help of the two ideophones lasak and kaŋiŋi:

See-am gɔna lasak,
ɓɛɛ mi ŋgai kaŋiŋi nɛ̀ kíì.

which back-translates to

“My liver stopped lasak (=abruptly),
and I harden kaŋiŋi (=become rigid) with fear”

Philip Noss (in The Bible Translator 1976, p. 100ff. ) explains: “A descriptive device common to Gbaya oral literature that is often found in translations of the Psalms is the ideophone. The ideophone may be identified with onomatopoeia and other sound words frequently seen in French and English comic strips, but in Gbaya and other African languages it comprises a class of words with a very wide range of meaning and usage. They may function verbally, substantively, or in a modifying role similar to adverbs and adjectives. They describe anything that may be experienced: action, sound, color, quality, smell, or emotion. In oral literature they are used not only with great frequency but also with great creativity.

Conforming to Gbaya literary style, the team used ideophones in its translation of the Psalms, although an average of less than two per psalm is a considerably lower rate of occurrence than in Gbaya narrative. There were two reasons for this limited usage. The first was that the Psalms are poetry rather than action narrative where their occurrence would be more common. The second was that in a tale being performed for artistic reasons, the ideophone may predominate over the action, whereas in the psalm the ideophone must complement without dominating or overshadowing the message. However, since the ideophone is an integral part of Gbaya literary expression, it could not be omitted. To do so would have rendered the translation colorless and unliterary.”

complete verse (Psalm 143:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 143:4:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Therefore my spirit is becoming weary inside me;
    inside me, my heart is worried.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “So I have become dejected,
    my heart has been weeping.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “So I have-lost hope and my heart is-filled with fear.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “My spirit grows to be cold in my body,
    my heart suffers in my body.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Nafsi yangu imeishiwa nguvu kabisa,
    moyo wangu umestuka.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “So I am very discouraged;
    I am very dismayed/worried.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Psalm 143:3 - 143:4

The psalmist describes his plight. The first two lines of verse 3 are parallel: has pursued me (literally “pursued my nefesh”) and has crushed my life. In verse 3b crushed … to the ground is a figure of complete defeat (see similar language in 7.5). It is possible, as Anderson and others think, that the enemy is a collective term for the psalmist’s enemies (see the plural in verse 9).

The last half of verse 3 is the same as Lamentations 3.6. The darkness (literally “dark places”; see 88.6, 18) may be understood literally to mean a gloomy dungeon, or else figuratively, meaning disaster, calamity. It is probable that the word deliberately alludes to the dark underworld, Sheol, and that the psalmist is saying that he is as good as dead (see use of similar language in 88.4-6). The expression like those long dead is an emphatic way of stressing the psalmist’s hopelessness; there is no life, no vitality, no hope in him. The dead in Sheol dwelt in darkness and eventually lost all spark of life which they might have had at the beginning of their stay in the world of the dead. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates “they force me to live in darkness, like those who died long ago.” Made me sit in darkness or Good News Translation has “numbed with horror,” New Jerusalem Bible “numb with fear,” New English Bible “dazed with despair.” The verb means to be stupefied, desolated, disconsolate; in the expressive American idiom, “to be wiped out” (see its use in 40.15a; “laid waste” in 79.7b).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .