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Update docs/gl_translation.rst
Add reason that an existing translation needs to be adapted before it can be a GLT
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Perry J Oakes
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@ -438,14 +438,74 @@ A list of decisions as to how to translate some senses of the source language wo
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Adapting the ULT
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.. note:: This module answers the question, "What are the guidelines for adapting an existing translation as the ULT?"
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.. note:: This module answers the question, "What are the guidelines for adapting an existing Bible translation to be the GLT?"
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.. seealso:: :ref:`gltranslation-transult`, :ref:`gltranslation-transust`.
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Prerequisites for Adapting an Existing Translation for the ULT
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Using an existing translation as the GLT
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Can I use an existing Bible translation as the Gateway Literal Text (GLT)?
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We do not recommend that you use an existing Bible translation as the GLT without adapting it to become a translation resource. A GLT is a translation resource that is intended to enable translators to see the structures of the original languages. Existing Bible translations are not intended to do this. Instead, they are intended to communicate God’s message in a natural way to speakers of the Gateway Language. The translation resources that you develop will enable translators to create Bibles in their own languages that do that. But an existing translation in your language is not the kind of resource that will make this possible.
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If you attempt to use an existing Bible as a translation resource, you will find that you need to make excessive adjustments in the other translation resources in order for them to work together. For example, you will need to add hundreds of translation notes to explain the meaning of words that are not used anymore or that may have changed meaning over time. Such notes would be inconsistent with the current system of translation notes. They would not address a translation issue and so would not refer to any article of translationAcademy, as all translation notes currently do.
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You would also need to add hundreds of translation notes to tell the translator about the many words and phrases that are not in the original but were added by the translators of your existing Bible in order to make it speak smoothly in the Gateway Language. If you do not alert the translator to these places, the GLT will not serve the function that the translator expects and requires of a GLT.
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As an example, consider what would be required if we used the King James Version as a translation resource. Let us consider Matthew 17:25 as an example.
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*And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon?* (Matt 17:25 KJV)
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We would have to add notes to address several further issues just in this sentence. One note would have to explain the meaning of the strange construction “was come.” Another note would have to explain that the word that the KJV translates as “prevented” actually means “anticipated.” It does not mean that Jesus stopped Peter from doing what he wanted to do. (The word has changed in meaning since 1611, when the KJV was first published.) Other notes would have to explain the archaic words “thinkest” and “thou.” It would be necessary to address the issue of the KJV not using quotation marks. The ULT would not require any of those notes:
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*And having entered into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon?”* (Matt 17:25 ULT)
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The need to add so many more notes would create much more work for translators. It would also deprive translators of a resource that would show them the structure of the Greek text. Translators working with the ULT instead of the KJV would not need these notes, because the ULT was created from the beginning to be a resource for translators, not to be a Bible translation to use in church.
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Here is a further example. These are the notes that would have to be added to one phrase in Romans 11:2. Existing notes are in gray; the extra notes that would be needed are in black.
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> Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias?
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> ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ἐν Ἠλείᾳ τί λέγει ἡ Γραφή
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> rc://*/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion
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> Paul is using the question form for emphasis. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate his words as a statement or an exclamation and communicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: “Surely you know what the scripture says about Elijah!”
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Wot ye not
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οὐκ οἴδατε
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The word Wot is an archaic form of the word “know.” Alternate translation: “Do you not know”
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Wot ye not
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οὐκ οἴδατε
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The word ye is an archaic form of the second person plural pronoun. Alternate translation: “Do you not know”
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> what the scripture saith
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> τί λέγει ἡ Γραφή
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> rc://*/ta/man/translate/figs-personification
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> Paul is speaking of the scripture as if it were a person who could speak. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “what God says in the scripture”
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> saith
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> λέγει
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> rc://*/ta/man/translate/translate-tense
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> Paul is using the present tense to describe what happened in the past. If it would not be natural to do that in your language, you could use the past tense in your translation. Alternate translation: “said”
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saith
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λέγει
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The word saith is an archaic form of the third person singular verb. Alternate translation: “says”
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Elias
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Ἠλείᾳ
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rc://*/ta/man/translate/translate-names
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The name Elias describes the same man who is known as “Elijah” in the Old Testament. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could use the same name for him in both testaments. Alternate translation: “Elijah”
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You will notice that the UST required three notes. Without adapting the sentence to be a translation resource, you would need to add four more notes. You would need to add notes like this for most of the verses in the Bible. It would be much faster and easier to adapt the Bible translation to be a translation resource, or to translate the UST. The resulting resource set would also be easier for the translator to use.
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For these reasons, we recommend that you either translate the ULT or adapt your existing Bible translation to become a translation resource. You would then call it something else, such as “The Literal Text (based on the KJV).” Then there would be no confusion between the resource that you were supplying to translators and the Bible version that people use in church.
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Prerequisites for Adapting an Existing Translation to be the GLT
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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What is needed to adapt an existing translation and use it as the ULT for a GL?
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What is needed to adapt an existing translation to be the GLT?
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In order to adapt an existing translation and use it as the :abbr:`ULT (unfoldingWord Literal Text)` for a :abbr:`GL (Gateway Language)`, it is necessary that the existing translation be a literal translation. That is, it should follow the same order of clauses as the original biblical languages and reproduce the original biblical idioms and figures of speech. Most Bibles that were translated into :abbr:`GLs (Gateway Languages)` in the first half of the twentieth century or earlier are literal translations.
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