See in Reader
59 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
59 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
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### Description
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Ellipsis is the omission of words that would normally be needed to make a sentence complete, but they are understood either by convention or because they were already used in a previous phrase.
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Here are two examples of elliptical sentences whose missing words are understood by convention. English speakers normally use the shorter forms.
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* "Fire when ready" means "Fire when <u>you are</u> ready."
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* "Back to the drawing board" means "<u>We need to go</u> back to the drawing board."
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Here are three examples of elliptical sentences whose missing words were already used in a previous phrase.
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* "I drank water, and Bob milk" means "I drank water, and Bob <u>drank</u> milk.
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* "I drank water, not milk" means "I drank water; <u>I did</u> not <u>drink</u> milk.
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* "I drank water, and Tom did, too" means "I drank water, and Tom <u>drank water</u>, too."
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### Reasons this is a translation issue
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Readers who see incomplete sentences or phrases may not know what the missing information is if they do not use ellipsis in their language.
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### Examples from the Bible
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In all of these examples, the missing words are understood because they were in the first phrase.
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>For Adam was formed first, <u>then Eve</u>. (1 Timothy 2:13 ULB)
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The underlined phrase above means, "then Eve was formed."
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>... his works were evil and <u>his brother's righteous</u>. (1 John 3:12 ULB)
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The underlined phrase above means, "his brother's works were righteous."
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>So the wicked will not stand in the judgment, <u>nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous</u>. (Psalm 1:5)
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The underlind phrase above means "sinners will not stand in the assembly of the righteous."
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>He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and <u>Sirion like a young ox</u>. (Psalm 29:6 ULB)
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The underlined phrase above means, "he makes Sirion skip like a young ox."
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> Then Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it. ..." <u>But his armor bearer would not</u>, for he was very afraid. (1 Samuel 31:4 ULB)
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The underlined phrase above means, "But his armor bearer would not draw his sword and thrust Saul through with it."
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### Translation Strategies
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If ellipsis would be natural and give the right meaning in your language, consider using it. If not, here is another option:
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1. Add the missing words to the incomplete phrase or sentence.
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### Examples of Translation Strategies Applied
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1. Add the missing words to the incomplete phrase or sentence.
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* **... the wicked will not stand in the judgment, <u>nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous</u>.** (Psalm 1:5)
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* ... the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor <u>will</u> sinners <u>stand</u> in the assembly of the righteous.
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* ... the wicked will not stand in the judgment, and sinners <u>will not stand</u> in the assembly of the righteous.
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* **He makes Lebanon skip like a calf <u>and Sirion like a young ox</u>.** (Psalm 29:6)
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* He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and <u>he makes</u> Sirion <u>skip</u> like a young ox.
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