A spiral development model for Bible translations
(This post is really of interest for fellow translation folk.) More on this later, but here’s an animated diagram coming out of this thinking about Bible translation processes and this post pondering lessons from software engineering that could apply to Bible translation.
It sounds odd when you put it like that… but actually it’s just how we say it
I spent the last week working with the Koro Ashe Translation team again. They are based 3 hours to the west but we worked this week in Jos. (If you receive news and prayer requests from Wycliffe.org.uk you might have heard mention of them as they are supported in particular by some British churches.) Some …
Unexpectedly familiar: ‘Bean pods’ of Luke 15
Last week I made a discovery that surprised both me and the translation team I was working with: that the ‘bean pods’ the young prodigal of Luke 15 wanted to ‘fill himself with’ neither the generic food scraps we might think, or the sloppy grain-husk-porridge people feed pigs with here but were the fruit of a tree very …
Bottlenecks & translation systems analysis (Nigeria)
(Download print-formatted version.) How the workflow feels at the moment for many Bible translation projects: Analysis of current dysfunction Teams rapidly draft, creating a slight backlog of drafts needing team check.
Why Bible Translation: An infographic
A little attempt at an infographic: partial brain dump explaining why I think it’s worth us (Bible translation people) doing what we do in Nigeria. Being relatively terse, and an infographic it is open to wild misunderstandings. We can deal with those in the comments. 🙂
Languages of Wilder Confusion: hidden dangers for international collaboration
I’ve appreciated the numerous short, thought-provoking articles Jim Harries has written (and also here) on topics of cross-cultural communication. One that got my attention recently was Building Castles in the Sky: A case for the use of indigenous languages and resources in Western mission-partnerships to Africa, particularly in the light of 2 realities which are close to home …
Making dictionaries serve translation
My paper Making Dictionaries Serve [Bible] Translation is here on Academia.edu open for comments. Below is the abstract and introduction. Making dictionaries serve translation David Rowbory, Translation Consultant in Training, SIL Nigeria A paper presented at the 2015 Bible Translation Conference hosted by GIAL Dallas, Texas, 16-20 October relating to the sub-themes Technology and other …
Letting go the familiar words and holding onto the real meaning
[This was first drafted in July – well before the C of E cinema ad controversy blew up. Still, perhaps it may inform a little and provoke some more worthy thought.] Our Father who is in heaven… What’s the first request of the Lord’s prayer? Can you express it in everyday language that you might genuinely use …
Lessons from Software Engineering for Bible Translation
Some time I may get round to writing a paper on some cross-disciplinary lessons that Bible translators can learn from Software Engineering. (This is essentially trying to integrate my former and current career paths.) My attention was caught by a slightly overblown headline on favourite irreverent geeky news site The Register: Most developers have never seen a …
Word for word
Here’s a half-formed thought for translation people. It probably gradually dawns on us all that the way the English Bible normally uses ‘word’ is not the usual way that we use it in English. It’s generally used as a translation for λογος or ρημα or אֹמֶר or דָּבָר. The problem is that the most common …