02-04-2005, 07:06 AM
3. Regrouping Wanted
The first thing I got excited about the language of the Aramaic is that it is traditionally written and read from right-to-left. That is really no trouble for a Chinese interlinear translation as traditional Chinese was written and read from right-to-left and from up-to-down as well. I thought, "WOW. The Chinese translation will be easy 'cause both the Aramaic and the Chinese are of the eastern languages."
When I got the Mattew chapter 1 in English by Paul Younan, the very first verse troubled me. I thought how come Paul Younan translated the Aramaic to comply his translation with English tradition?
See,
01
the book
of the genealogy
of Yeshua
the Messiah
the son
of Dawed
the son
of Awraham
or
01
the book of the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah the son of Dawed the son of Awraham
That is very English to me that I can understand!
If I translated it into modern Chinese iterally, it turns out to be like this
01
the book the genealogy's Yeshua's the Messiah the son Dawed's the son Awraham's
Does it make sense anyway?! The only way that makes sense for Chinese is to read it reversely:
01
Awraham's son, Dawed's son, Yeshua the Messiah's genealogy's book
(Chinese doesn't have articles like the or a.)
All Chinese translations of the Bible are the same way as above. You might say, that does not make sense very much to English speakers. However,
"the book the genealogy's Yeshua's the Messiah the son Dawed's the son Awraham's"
is not only grammarly bad, not also NONSENSE!
Therefore, I suggested that what if I regrouped the original English phrases so that it makes sense in Chinese like this:
01
the book of the genealogy
of Yeshua the Messiah
the son of Dawed
the son of Awraham
then in Chinese it goes like this:
01
the genealogy's book
Yeshua the Messiah's
the Dawed's son
the Awraham's son
Though it is still intolerable in Chinese, but it indeeds help us guess what it means by our previous knowledge of the Bible, but NOT by the language itself. It isnt a Chinese language in any sense, but it indeed helps us guess what it means.
Of course, this very first verse that I had to deal with went to the extreme that might make you think I am simply not happy to comply with the interlinear translation word by word in Aramaic/English way.
The second example is,
06
Aeshe
fathered
Dawed
the king
Dawed
fathered
Shlemon
by
the wife
of Awrea
I have to regoup like
06
Aeshe
fathered
Dawed
the king
Dawed
fathered
Shlemon
by
the wife of Awrea
to make any sense in Chinese.
And some more examples as fellow, each of which has to be regrouped into one group to make sense in Chinese.
in the captivity of Babel (in verse 11)
and after the captivity now of Babel (in verse 12)
the birth now of Yeshua the Messiah (in verse 18)
the Spirit Holy (in verse 18)
an angel of the LORD (in verse 20)
etc.
In Matthew chapter 2
in Beth-Lekhem of Yehuda (mat 2:1)
in the days of Herodus the king (mat 2:1)
....
The first thing I got excited about the language of the Aramaic is that it is traditionally written and read from right-to-left. That is really no trouble for a Chinese interlinear translation as traditional Chinese was written and read from right-to-left and from up-to-down as well. I thought, "WOW. The Chinese translation will be easy 'cause both the Aramaic and the Chinese are of the eastern languages."
When I got the Mattew chapter 1 in English by Paul Younan, the very first verse troubled me. I thought how come Paul Younan translated the Aramaic to comply his translation with English tradition?
See,
01
the book
of the genealogy
of Yeshua
the Messiah
the son
of Dawed
the son
of Awraham
or
01
the book of the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah the son of Dawed the son of Awraham
That is very English to me that I can understand!
If I translated it into modern Chinese iterally, it turns out to be like this
01
the book the genealogy's Yeshua's the Messiah the son Dawed's the son Awraham's
Does it make sense anyway?! The only way that makes sense for Chinese is to read it reversely:
01
Awraham's son, Dawed's son, Yeshua the Messiah's genealogy's book
(Chinese doesn't have articles like the or a.)
All Chinese translations of the Bible are the same way as above. You might say, that does not make sense very much to English speakers. However,
"the book the genealogy's Yeshua's the Messiah the son Dawed's the son Awraham's"
is not only grammarly bad, not also NONSENSE!
Therefore, I suggested that what if I regrouped the original English phrases so that it makes sense in Chinese like this:
01
the book of the genealogy
of Yeshua the Messiah
the son of Dawed
the son of Awraham
then in Chinese it goes like this:
01
the genealogy's book
Yeshua the Messiah's
the Dawed's son
the Awraham's son
Though it is still intolerable in Chinese, but it indeeds help us guess what it means by our previous knowledge of the Bible, but NOT by the language itself. It isnt a Chinese language in any sense, but it indeed helps us guess what it means.
Of course, this very first verse that I had to deal with went to the extreme that might make you think I am simply not happy to comply with the interlinear translation word by word in Aramaic/English way.
The second example is,
06
Aeshe
fathered
Dawed
the king
Dawed
fathered
Shlemon
by
the wife
of Awrea
I have to regoup like
06
Aeshe
fathered
Dawed
the king
Dawed
fathered
Shlemon
by
the wife of Awrea
to make any sense in Chinese.
And some more examples as fellow, each of which has to be regrouped into one group to make sense in Chinese.
in the captivity of Babel (in verse 11)
and after the captivity now of Babel (in verse 12)
the birth now of Yeshua the Messiah (in verse 18)
the Spirit Holy (in verse 18)
an angel of the LORD (in verse 20)
etc.
In Matthew chapter 2
in Beth-Lekhem of Yehuda (mat 2:1)
in the days of Herodus the king (mat 2:1)
....