September 2021 SIL Translation Newsletter

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 International Translation Services (ITS) works in collaboration with colleagues in SIL and other agencies to creatively steward and advance the translation practices, tools, methods, and training necessary to enable a supportive environment for individuals and communities to flourish and engage with Scripture.
 We value: Interconnectedness. Capacity Building. Diversity. Innovation.

September 2021

• Forever Young! - Greg Dekker
• Psalm 23 with Christoph Müller - 9 September BT List Live
• Training for Translators Videos - Steve Payne 
  • EMDC Online 7 Sep - Training for Translators Videos
• Training and Development Snapshots - Phil King
• Translation Issues in Bantu Languages - Sebastian Floor (EMDC Online 13 Sep)
• What do Scholars need to know about Bible Translation? - Andy Warren-Rothlin
• Translation of YHWH in the Old Testament - Steve Kempf
• Biblical Researchers - Michael & Rachel Aubrey
• Digital Training Library Update - Phil King
• New Publication: Translation Studies and Bible Translation - Jacobus Naudé & Drew Maust
• ION North America Regional Online Connection - 15-16 October 2021

Links for International Translation
 SIL International Translation Services Team

Forever Young! Greg Dekker (ITS Director)

An old guy in his Volvo is driving home from work when his wife rings him on his car phone. "Honey," she says in a worried voice, "be careful! There was an item on the news just now... some lunatic is driving the wrong way down the freeway!" "It's worse than that," the old guy replies, "there are hundreds of them!"

 In a recent International Translation Services (ITS) all-Staff meeting (more than 70 people, and 2/3rds of us are over the age of 30!!), a very respected, senior staff member of around 88 years of age voiced their analysis of innovation by saying something to the effect that we need to work hard at maintaining and strengthening time-tested and proven methods for doing Bible Translation. I found myself agreeing with him (while also recognizing the important place of innovation).  At the ripe, middle-age of 60-turning-61 (smile!) I'm wondering just how much longer Im going to be able to contribute meaningfully to the Bible Translation Movement! Am I really middle-age already?! Cant be.

 I was encouraged in a dialogue with one of my staff recently to learn, after searching the internet for very objective data, that studies show that mature employees have many advantages over immature younger employees. (Of course AARP - a United States based interest group focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty - is a completely objective place to look for data on the value of older workers!) A study conducted by the BMW corporation, for example, showed that Even in physically demanding fields, older employees have advantages... Researchers at the University of Mannheim, in Germany, studied teams of workers at a BMW plant. They found that productivity increased consistently as workers aged, right up to [the age of] mandatory retirement. That's because veterans knew where to focus their efforts to deal with unexpected problems and prevent the most costly mistakes.

 But seriously now Stereotypes about mature workers have been soundly denounced from research. Stereotypes of older workers by employers include: more likely to be burned-out, resistant to new technologies, absent due to illness, poor at working with younger supervisors, reluctant to travel, less creative, less productive, slower mentally, and more expensive to employ! (Whew! I need an aspirin! Does this guy know me?) For example, Peter Cappelli a management professor at the Wharton School of Business said, Every aspect of job performance gets better as we age," he declares. "I thought the picture might be more mixed, but it isn't. (Quoted in the very objective AARP website.)

 So what do us old folks add to the mix? Well, lets see off the top of my head, Id say patience, been there, done that experience, problem solving skills, patience, work ethic, perseverance, patience, and of course, perspective! 37+ looong years of perspective! :-) (And we never repeat ourselves.)

 Ill never forget a particularly demanding and fatiguing experience I had in India As SAG Director I was called on to give words at a Multilingual Education (MLE) workshop in a small, rather remote location, and help to moderate and bring unity to differences of opinion within the community about the orthography. It was brutally hot and dusty. The meeting area was cramped and the conditions overall for learning were pretty unfavorable, as were our lodging provisions. After a couple days of working with the opposing sides of the community, I was exhausted. But my colleague, a woman over 70 years of age was carrying on with seemingly unlimited energy and every bit as eager and helpful as the day she arrived (before I did!) I realized then how indebted we are to our mentors in the Bible Translation movement. Thank you, Lord, for these faithful servants of yours who continue to show us - model for us - how to get the job done!

 Dont get me wrong, Im ALL for diversity in the workplace, as long as ALL of us patient, old folks can continue to make a valuable contribution! Now, hurry up and publish this, Brian! 

Psalm 23 with Christoph Müller 9 September - BT List Live

On Thursday, 9 September at 1 PM (UTC)/ 8 AM Dallas time, Drew Maust will be hosting another BT List Live webinar, with Christoph Müller (SIL Translation Consultant) leading a participatory Hebrew reading and guided tour of Psalm 23, highlighting points of interest for translation. Click here to register online.

 Christoph Müller (PhD, University of Strasbourg, France), has worked for over 20 years in the Central African Republic and Cameroon, helping several New Testament and Old Testament translation projects. He currently is based in Switzerland.  

Training for Translators Videos Steve Payne

Providing adequate training to new teams of local Bible translators is critical in order to see God's Word in the heart language of every tribe and every nation. The Training for Translators Videos provide instruction on good translation procedures, principles, and practice for producing a high-quality translation of the Scriptures. These video materials for a three-week workshop were produced by Stephen Payne, a senior Translation Consultant with Seed Company. Steve has 18 years of experience running Translation Workshops in Africa and Asia, and has trained new teams of national translators in over 35 languages.  

• EMDC course - on Tuesday 7 September, Steve will introduce the new training videos in a presentation, Training for Translators  a new video series for training MTTs, on the EMDC Online platform. Everyone is welcome to register at EMDC.Online and learn how to effectively use these videos for training new teams of national translators.
• Steve has produced thirty-nine (39) videos that you can use in your translation training workshops. They cover the essential components in helping new translators to start working independently on translating the Scriptures. 
• The training videos were recorded using PowerPoint and you are allowed to Modify the PowerPoints (for instance, adding additional exercises or local examples), and export a new, localized video. However, if you do not need to modify the course content, then you only need to view or download the Videos, not the PowerPoints.

Training and Development Snapshots Phil King

Over the past few weeks, area translation coordinators met together to seek consensus on the scores needed to 'qualify' as a translation consultant within the new Competency-Based Certification (CBC) system. The full list of competencies is publicly available on the ILS Training website. Please do have a look (and share them with others), especially if you are involved in training courses.  

 The next Bible Translation Training and Development Community of Practice will be in November 2021, with a focus on CBC. Sign up for the Trainers_COP email list (Trainers_COP+subscribe@groups.sil.org) to stay in touch with information and participate in discussion of training issues.

 An inter-organisational Translation Consultant Think Tank (initiated at FOBAI earlier this year) has been meeting for the past three months. The focus has been on building relationships and hearing ideas from each organisation, particularly about keeping track of available consultants and managing their engagement in projects. The intention is to explore possibilities of sharing consultants more easily and helpfully across organisations.

 The Consultant Development and Management (CD&M) team has restarted under the leadership of Andy Clark, with the remit of reviewing the approaches and initiatives being used for consultant development and management within SIL and partner agencies, and disseminating learning about these initiatives with other practitioners. If you want to keep in touch with their work, please email here, to sign up for the regular bulletin.

 The next online Asia TCDW (Translation Consultant Development Workshop) will be held 30 May to 24 June 2022 (four weeks), co-directed by Steve Doty and Angie Seow. To request an application or for more information, please email the TCDW Coordinator. The application deadline is 31 December 2021. 

Translation Issues in Bantu Languages Sebastian Floor - Mon 13 Sep EMDC Online

Sebastian Floor discusses features of Southern Africa Bantu languages that may provide challenges to Bible translators, including Biblical Key terms. This will also be helpful for consultants not familiar with Bantu --  especially regarding Bantu discourse. The Bantu family extends from South Africa to Cameroon, DRC, Uganda and Kenya in central Africa, excluding Madagascar and the Khoi and San languages.  

• EMDC course - on Monday 13 September 9am Dallas time. Join Sebastian in this discussion of Translation Issues in Bantu Languages, on the EMCD Online platform. Everyone is welcome to register at emdc.online and interact with Sebastian. 

Sebastian (PhD 2004 Stellenbosch University) is a Seed Company Translation Consultant working in the Southern Africa and Lusophone Africa region. His special interests are new tools and methods for the translation of the Psalms, Biblical key terms, the interface of Biblical Theology and translation, oral Scriptures, discourse and theme analysis, and pragmatics, especially in the area of information structure. 

What do Scholars need to know about Bible Translation? Andy Warren-Rothlin

translators have to make decisions but these decisions have to be made by locals so resources (and outside exegetes and consultants) should aim not to give answers but to facilitate local decision-making processes.

Andy Warren-Rothlin (UBS Translation Consultant and SIL Board member) had a provocative and vigorous discussion on MAP regarding how to successfully engage Bible Scholars in the task of Bible translation. There may be a world of difference between scholar-led and Bible Translation Organization (BTO)-led translation projects (in terms of personnel, translators, exegetes, consultants, and processes), and their products and resources! 

• You can see most of the discussion on this MAP page 
• You can find his PowerPoint (18 slides) on this MAP page - just scroll down till you see the PowerPoint. He was asked to present this topic to the Cambridge Digital Bible Research (CDBR) Psalms Layer-by-Layer project, which is developing a new kind of resource for Bible translators in collaboration with several SIL and UBS colleagues (to be presented at the BT 2021 Conference). 
• Here are further comments from other colleagues on MAP. 

Translation of YHWH in the Old Testament Steve Kempf

Angie Foo (Asia Translation Coordinator) hosted Steve Kempf's (retired SIL Translation Consultant and Old Testament specialist) discussion on the translation of YHWH in the Old Testament for her August Asia Translation CoP with over 50 participants. The translation of the personal name YHWH in the Old Testament presents a number of challenges. Putting aside  the constraints of the target language for the moment,  it is helpful to take a closer exegetical look at a number of OT passages where Gods personal covenantal name is used.  

1. Biblical names can have lexical, semantic, descriptive, literary and pragmatic meaning. Does the name יְהוָ֣ה have an identifiable etymology or is it opaque? Does the name have descriptive meaning or meaning that comes from a play on words? Why does the author use the name יְהוָ֣ה in a particular passage rather than Elohim or Adonay? While these three terms can overlap in meaning in certain contexts, they often have different functions and meanings. Most important, the tension and interplay between these three terms support the uniqueness, incomparability and exclusivity of Yahweh in a polytheistic world context. 
2. The Hebrew word שֵׁםֹ  name often refers to YHWH. Usually it signals a simple appellation (Ex 15:3). However, the phrase name of YHWH can also appear as a linguistic unit that refers directly to YHWH either through metonymy or as a metonymic reference to his fame, reputation, or authority and in various idioms that indicate his claim to ownership. A conceptual metaphor exists in the Ancient Near Eastern culture where one could claim ownership orally by affixing ones name to something with a seal, an inscription or by branding. This background often influences how to translate a number of idioms that have the name YHWH.
3. Finally, the name יְהוָ֣ה is closely tied to the concept of covenant (berit) in the OT.  The concept of covenant is central and foundational to the Bibles narrative plot structure.  The progression of the covenants forms the backbone of Scriptures metanarrative, the relational reality that moves history forward according to Gods design and final plan for humanity and all creation (Gentry). As the OT covenants unfold we see a progressive revelation of what it means to know YHWH in the OT. In fact, the Hebrew word know can connote a covenant relationship. To "know Yahweh is to be in covenant relationship with Him. His people come to know him better as the covenants with YHWH are progressively revealed.  (W. Randall Garr, The Grammar and Interpretation of Exodus 6:3,  JBL 111 (1992): 385-408.) 

Biblical Researchers Michael & Rachel Aubrey

Meet the newest additions to Paul O'Rear's Translation Resources team, Michael & Rachel Aubrey. In their role as Biblical Researcher, they will assist in various Biblical languages projects. 

 They studied linguistics at Dallas International University and Canada Institute of Linguistics at Trinity Western University, receiving the MA in Linguistics & Translation. Applying their studies to Biblical Greek and Hebrew, their theses addressed questions on the grammar of the Greek verb: Michael on the Greek perfect (chapter 3 in Linguistics and New Testament Greek: Key Issues in the Current Debate, 2020, edited by David Alan Black and Benjamin L. Merkle) and Rachel on the Greek voice system.

 Their work at Logos Bible Software has produced tools for pastors and scholars. Rachel worked on Latin/Hebrew resources, including The English-Hebrew Reverse Interlinear Christian Standard Bible and Lexham Reverse Interlinear Vulgate Bible. Michael produced various datasets, along with chapters for the Lexham Methods Series. He is a contributing editor for The Lexham English Septuagint.

 Their most recent writing project helps pastors and scholars understand how prepositions function in the Greek New Testament. They also maintain a collaborative site on Greek and Hebrew linguistics. 

Digital Training Library Update Phil King

The first certificate of the Digital Training Library is nearing completion in English. This includes the following modules. The first three modules are currently available for free if you want to try them out. 

• Language, Theology and Mission
• Understanding and Meaning-Making
• Introduction to Translation
• How Language Works
• The Role of Language in the Mission of God
• Making Sense of Words in Context
• Developing Understanding for Translation
• Building Translation Competence
• The Story of Language in the Mission of God
• Translation and Community and Engagement 
• Translation through Technology

The next steps include translating the material into French, Spanish, Hindi and Indonesian. At the same time new certificates are being developed, including introduction and intermediate levels of Biblical Greek and Biblical Hebrew (in partnership with Biblingo), and hopefully a certificate on Discourse and another on Orality.

 Looking further ahead, the Content Steering Committee would like your input on what future certificates should be planned. If you have any ideas, please contact Phil King, who represents SIL on the committee.  

New Publication: Translation Studies and Bible Translation Jacobus Naudé & Drew Maust

You can now read the published transcript of the Translation Studies and Bible Translation interview with Jacobus Naudé (University of the Free State, South Africa), as it is available in the Journal for Translation Studies in Africa.   

• Jacobus A. Naudé and Drew Maust, Translation Studies and Bible Translation: Interview on BT List Live, Journal for Translation Studies in Africa 2 (2021): 127. 

Keywords: Translation Studies, Bible translation, Complexity, pseodotranslation, Translatability, Alterity, Source text, Functionalist approach, Translation quality management

Abstract: A live webinar on translation studies and its implications for Bible translation was held on 20 August 2020. The goal was to answer the question: What insights can Bible translation practitioners glean from the field of translation studies? It is argued that the contribution of translation studies to Bible translation cannot be ignored; instead, translation studies is indispensable for Bible translation, especially in the planning, the establishment and the execution of a Bible translation project. After the introduction, the webinar focused on the nature of translation studies followed by the dissemination of translation knowledge for Bible translation. The conclusion listed the shifts that need to take place in Bible translation on the basis of its engagement with translation studies.  

ION North America Regional Online Connection 15-16 October 2021

The 2021 International Orality Network (ION) North America Regional Online Connection (NARION) will be held virtually 15-16 October 2021, with the theme of "To All Nations By All Means." Click this link for a brief look at who you will meet and what you will learn at the NARION 2021 Online Connection. Registration is $25 per person which gives you access to two days of interactive meetings and unlimited access to conference videos.
   

Useful Links 

• Online Bible Translation 2021 Conference - held virtually, online 15-19 October
• Email the SIL International Translation Office
• International Translation Services ILS Google page
• Join/visit the SIL Translation Resources Google Group
• Visit the public SIL.org/Translation site
• Purchase Translation Resources at SIL.org/Resources/Publications 
• Mentoring Matters website 
• Consultant Development and Management Team

SIL International Translation Services Team 

• Greg Dekker - ITS Director
• Dick Kroneman - International Coordinator for Translation Research and Practice 
• Paul O'Rear - International Coordinator for Translation Resources
• Phil King - International Coordinator for Translation Training and Development
• Nathan Payne - International Coordinator for Oral Translation Services
• Bill Bivin - Global Consultant Pool Director
• Brian Migliazza - Bamboo Project Manager

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 Copyright 2021 SIL International Translation Services. All rights reserved.
 You are receiving this email because of your interest in translation updates.

 This newsletter is produced by SIL International Translation Services. Editors are Tuula O'Rear and Brian Migliazza. It contains items of interest for translation personnel within SIL and related organizations. It includes notices of upcoming conferences and workshops, announcements of recent dissertations and journal articles, and pointers to useful information related to translation.
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